Functional Classification in the United States

Functional Classification in the Federal Budget Process

Meaning of Functional Classification in the congressional and executive budget processes (GAO source): A system of classifying budget authority, outlays, receipts, and tax expenditures according to the national needs being addressed. Each concurrent resolution on the budget allocates budget authority and outlays among the various functions.

Each budget account appears in the single budget function (for example, national defense or health) that best reflects its major purpose, an important national need. A function may be divided into two or more subfunctions, depending upon the complexity of the national need addressed. (See also Budget Activity.)

(For a presentation of the functional classification for the fiscal 2006 budget, see app. IV. For a distinction, see Object Classification. See also Agency Mission; Budget Activity; Subfunction.)

Resources

See Also

• Federal Appropriations
• Entries about the United States Budget Process in the Encyclopedia (including Functional Classification)
• 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)