government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year. The United States Constitution (art. I. § 9) says: "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law." This places the responsibility and power of deciding appropriations under the jurisdiction of the United States House Committee on Appropriations and the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations. Both committees have twelve matching subcommittees, each tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills. Appropriations bills in the United States can also come in the format of an omnibus spending bill, a continuing resolution, or a supplemental appropriation bill. If Congress has not enacted the regular appropriations bills by the start of a new fiscal year, it can pass a continuing resolution, which continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. An omnibus spending bill is simply a combination of multiple appropriations bills into one larger appropriations bill. Supplemental appropriations bills increase funding for activities that were already funded in previous appropriations bills or that provide new funding for unexpected expenses. For example, both the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War were funded with a variety of supplemental appropriations. Supplemental appropriations bills also provide funding for recovering from unexpected natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy (the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013). Criminal law In England and Wales, the Theft Act 1968 s 3(1) defines appropriation as "Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner". Contract authority A contract authority is a form of budget authority that permits obligations to be made in advance of appropriations. See also Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 Omnibus spending bill Appropriations bill (United States) References Legislative legal terminology