Forms of Appropriation: A Typology

Abstract

Since the enactment of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, spending has been categorized as either “discretionary” or “mandatory.” However, over the last 40 years Congress has created and utilized many forms within each category and many agencies are funded via several forms, some of which are better understood than others. Consequently, budget and financial management officials must deal with differing levels of congressional control in obligating funds, variations in the length of time to expend obligated funds and varying levels of transparency. This article identifies 13 different forms of appropriations and develops a categorization of forms — “Discretionary,” “Transitional,” “Mandatory/Entitlement,” and “other.” For each form the article provides a description and examples. In each case the article also identifies issues of congressional control and budget execution raised by the form. The article concludes by advancing research questions raised by the analysis and categorizations.