Current Rate in the United States

Current Rate in the Federal Budget Process

Meaning of Current Rate in the congressional and executive budget processes (GAO source): Used in a continuing resolution, the total amount of budget authority that was available for obligation for an activity during the fiscal year immediately prior to the one for which the continuing resolution is enacted. Congress often uses the “current rate” as part of a formula to indicate a level of spending that it desires for a program for the duration of the continuing resolution. The current rate does not allow agencies to fund new initiatives, programs, or both requested for the current year unless Congress specifically authorizes them to be funded. (See also Continuing Appropriation/Continuing Resolution; Seasonal Rate.)

Resources

See Also

• Federal Appropriations
• Entries about the United States Budget Process in the Encyclopedia (including Current Rate)
• Public Debt

Further Reading

• Legislatures and the budget process: the myth of fiscal control

  (J Wehner, 2010)

• Reconcilable Differences?: Congress, the Budget Process, and the Deficit (JB Gilmour, 1990)
• Fiscal institutions and fiscal performance

  (JM Poterba, J von Hagen, 2008)