S. Rept. 107-14 - Authorizing Expenditures by Committees of the Senate, 2001-04-30
Date | 30 April 2001 |
Type of Document | House Report |
Issuer | Committee on Rules and Administration |
89–010
107
TH
C
ONGRESS
R
EPORT
"!
SENATE
1st Session 107–14
AUTHORIZING EXPENDITURES BY COMMITTEES OF THE
SENATE
A
PRIL
30, 2001.—Ordered to be printed
Mr. M
C
C
ONNELL
, from the Committee on Rules and
Administration, submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. Res. 54]
The Committee on Rules and Administration, to which was re-
ferred the following Senate Resolutions: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36,
37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 46, 47, 49, 51, 52, and 53, reports, in lieu thereof,
an original resolution, incorporating the provisions of the foregoing
resolutions and recommends that the resolution be agreed to.
C
HAIRMAN
’
S
S
TATEMENT
Since 1989, this Committee has adopted a biennial funding au-
thorization for committees of the Senate. This policy has received
strong support from the committee chairmen and ranking mem-
bers.
Unique circumstances, affecting the committee budget process
faced the Senate as the 106th Congress convened, arising from the
need to deal with Y2K computer matters before the close of 1999.
To this end, the Senate transitioned to a new Financial Manage-
ment System (FMIS). This system is designed to conform to the
Federal Government’s fiscal year which runs from October 1
through September 30. Consequently, modifications to the Com-
mittee funding process (in which budget years begin on March 1)
were necessary to reflect the Federal fiscal year for accounting pur-
poses. Beginning in the 106th Congress, the biennial funding pe-
riod was divided into 3 segments: the 7-month period from March
1 through September 30 of the first calendar year of the Congress;
the 12-month period from October 1 of the first calendar year
through September 30 of the second calendar year; and, the 5-
month period from October 1 of the second calendar year through
the last day of February of the third calendar year.
As a result of the national elections in November, 2000, the Sen-
ate in the 107th Congress is comprised of 50 Republican Members
2
and 50 Democratic Members. On January 5, 2001, the Senate
agreed to S. Res. 8 which stated that,
‘‘* * * notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXV, or
any other provision of the Standing Rules or Standing Or-
ders of the Senate, the committees of the Senate, including
Joint and Special Committees, for the 107th Congress
shall be composed equally of members of both parties, to
be appointed at a later time by the two Leaders; that the
budgets and office space for such committees, and all other
subgroups, shall likewise be equal, with up to an addi-
tional 10 percent to be allocated for administrative ex-
penses to be determined by the Rules Committee, with the
total administrative expenses allocation for all committees
not to exceed historic levels * * *’’
Thus, in accordance with S. Res. 8, the total funding target for
those segments of FY2001, FY2002 and FY2003 encompassed by
the 107th Congress, is 100% of the FY2000 total budget authority
funded in S. Res. 189 (agreed to September 27, 1999) with the re-
curring budget salary baseline adjusted by an amount to equalize
the Republican and Democratic salary baselines, adjusted by the
January 2000 COLA of 3.8% and the January 2001 COLA and lo-
cality pay of 3.81%. In addition, committees may budget the Janu-
ary 2002 COLA and locality pay at 4.8% and budget the January
2003 COLA and locality pay at 3.9%. Committees also had the op-
tion to request up to an additional 10 percent increment based on
their total budget authority, consistent with S. Res. 8.
It is the intent of the Committee on Rules and Administration
that amounts included in the various committee budgets for COLAs
beginning January 2002 and January and February of 2003 shall
be used only for COLAs authorized by the order of the President
pro tempore of the Senate pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 60a–1.
The Rules Committee has authorized the use of unexpended
funds in some form since 1989. In 1991, this committee informed
Senate committees in Senate Report 102–15, and during the debate
of that resolution, that the policy adopted would permit committees
to retain 50 percent of their unexpended funds as of February 28,
1993, to cover non-recurring needs that enhance efficiency in the
committee. When S. Res. 71, the omnibus committee funding reso-
lution for the 103d Congress, was considered by the Senate, it was
amended to contain language that no committee of the Senate may
carry over an unexpended balance beyond March 1, 1995. S. Res.
54 (105th Congress) did not permit committees to carry forward
funds but did continue to provide a special reserve into which the
unexpended balances of the committees were transferred, after ob-
ligations incurred during the funding period ended were paid.
The purpose of the special reserve was to fund special, unantici-
pated, non-recurring needs of committees. Consideration was given
only to such committees whose Chairman and Ranking Member
submitted a request to be approved by the Chairman and Ranking
Member of the Committee on Rules and Administration.
In order to preserve the flexibility of the Committee to meet the
unforeseen needs of Senate committees, this resolution continues
the practice of making special reserve funding available to request-
ing committees. The Committee intends that requests for such
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