	Discretionary Funds for FY2011

The 112 th Congress is currently discussing how to fund the federal government's discretionary programs for the remainder of FY2011, which began on October 1, 2010. The current CR provides funding until April 15, 2011. If further funding were not provided, much of the federal government would be shut down. 1473 , a compromise reached just before the expiration on April 8 of the sixth CR ( P.L. The last part of this report summarizes long-term trends in federal spending and presents projections of FY2011 and FY2012 federal spending in terms of outlays. 112-8 ; H.R. 1473 , the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, is expected to be considered this week. Comparisons of Spending Levels

Much of the discussion has focused on comparing proposed funding levels with the FY2010 enacted level, the President's FY2011 budget request, and H.R. 1 , the funding level approved by the House on February 19, 2011, which was intended to return spending levels for most agencies other than the Defense Department and other security-related agencies to FY2008 levels. All other agencies are non-security. There has been little debate about the Administration's proposed funding levels for the Afghan and Iraq wars, which is treated separately. 1 , as passed by the House on February 19, 2011, but which failed in the Senate on March 9, 2011, proposed a total of $1.026 trillion, below the FY2010 enacted level and substantially below the President's FY2011 budget request. 1473 , being considered this week, proposes a level of $1.050 trillion, an overall total below the FY2010 enacted level but above the level proposed in H.R. 1473 is $66.5 billion below FY2010 enacted levels including a decrease of $42.0 billion for non-security agencies and a $1.3 billion increase for security agencies. Compared to the FY2011 request, H.R. H.R. 1473 funding is $28.8 billion or 2% higher than H.R. While the funds within the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee's jurisdiction would receive funding below the President's FY2011 request in all of the proposals, both H.R. 1473 and about $7 billion in the case of H.R. 1473 would be $2 billion below FY2010 enacted levels. H.R. 1473 includes $17.5 billion in reductions in mandatory programs. A new CBO estimate suggests that these reductions in mandatory programs would have relatively little effect on outlays.
The 112th Congress is considering H.R. 1473, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, which would fund the federal government's discretionary programs for the remainder of FY2011, which began on October 1, 2010. H.R. 1473 represents a last-minute compromise reached on April 8, the eve of the expiration of the sixth short-term continuing resolution (CR) enacted to date. The current CR (H.R. 1373/P.L. 112-8) provides funding until April 15, 2011. If further funding is not provided, much of the federal government would be shut down.
The difficulty in reaching agreement on funding levels for the current fiscal year reflects a larger debate about how to restrain federal spending in the face of large deficits this year and in years to come. Much of the debate has focused on how various proposed funding levels compare to the FY2010 enacted level and President Obama's FY2011 budget request. H.R. 1473 proposes a total federal spending level of $1.21 trillion, or $66.5 billion below the FY2010 enacted level and $78.5 billion below the President's request.
All of the proposed funding levels include $159 billion in emergency spending for the Afghan and Iraq wars as proposed by the President. While funding levels for the Defense Department and other security-related agencies (defined here as Defense, Military Construction/Veterans' Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security) have been reduced below the President's request in H.R. 1473, those levels are slightly above FY2010 enacted levels.
Most of the debate about reducing spending has focused on discretionary spending for all other non-security areas ranging from Agriculture and Commerce to Transportation and Housing. For all non-security agencies, H.R. 1473 proposes a funding level of $421.7 billion—$42.0 billion or 4% below the FY2010 enacted level and $56.1 billion or 7% below the President's request.
H.R. 1473 proposes a funding level of $23.8 billion or 2% above H.R. 1, which was passed by the House on February 19, 2011, and intended to return non-security spending to FY2008 levels. These comparisons are not precise because the $42 billion decrease relative to FY2010 enacted includes $17 billion in decreases to mandatory programs. A new CBO estimate suggests that H.R. 1473 reduces cumulative outlays by about $20 billion to $25 billion, largely because many of the changes to mandatory programs would have little effect on outlays.
This report will be updated as necessary.