Supplemental appropriations are additional funds added to the US government’s fiscal budget during the year for unexpected needs, emergencies, or defense. They require approval from the Office of Management and Budget and Congress. They account for less than 20% of total appropriations and have been used for various purposes in the past. The Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2008 divided funds for military operations, education benefits, disaster relief, Medicaid rules, and other areas.
The supplemental appropriation provides additional funds to the already split appropriations in the US government’s fiscal budget. They are added while the fiscal year is already in progress and are typically used for unexpected needs, emergencies such as a recession, disaster, or defense. They are required by several government agencies and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as appropriation bills.
Due to the complexities of budgetary authority, the OMB allows for additional appropriation only if the need is urgent enough that funding cannot be delayed until the next fiscal year. The agency must demonstrate the urgency of the funds and show what they will be used for. The request is then transferred to the president and Congress, where a congressional subcommittee has the power to approve or deny the request as needed. Like a regular allocation added during budgeting, a supplementary allocation is most often approved.
Supplementary appropriations generally account for less than 20 percent of total appropriations, although the percentages have been high in the second half of the 20th century and into the early 21st century. Federal wage increases are one aspect of the supplemental appropriation representing one for every $20 of appropriation. Additionally, unforeseen laws that pass in the middle of a fiscal year require additional funding to ensure the success of programs involved in new legislation.
In the 1930s, supplemental appropriation was used to stimulate the economy, create jobs, and introduce a number of new government agencies as part of the New Deal. In the 1940s, during World War II, appropriations were used to increase the production of war machines and to meet the salary increase required by the vast increase in the number of military personnel. In 1970, the additional appropriation represented nearly 6 billion US dollars (USD) of the budget. In 1980 that number skyrocketed to nearly $20 billion, and in 1991, during the Gulf War, the number skyrocketed to nearly $48 billion. In 2008, the additional appropriation reached $250 billion by Act of Congress.
The Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2008 was signed into law on June 30, 2008. It divided $162 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the following year; $63 billion for Veterans Education Benefits; $12 billion for unemployment benefits; $2.7 billion for disaster relief for floods that devastated the Midwestern United States earlier that month; $10 Billion for New Medicaid Rules; and $10.1 billion in other areas.
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