Introduction
The Review of Legislation section contains detailed information on legislative action, along with reports on executive actions and court developments that have important implications for legislative policies. Bills are divided into two general kinds: appropriations and authorization. Please note that some issues relate to both kinds of bills. Authorization bills provide the fundamental authority – the policies and procedures – by which various government agencies and programs operate. The authorization can be for an indefinite period, or for one or several years. Some authorization bills set a ceiling on the amount of money that can be spent, while others are open-ended. However, authorization bills do not provide the money. That is the function of the annual appropriations bills, currently 12 in number. Within annual budget targets, these bills “appropriate” the actual amount of money to be spent on various authorized agencies and programs each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). This amount may well be below the authorized ceiling. Congress also passes short-term and supplemental appropriations bills. Sometimes Congress appropriates funds for programs or agencies whose authorization has lapsed. And sometimes Congress attaches policy riders to the appropriations bills. A number of policies prohibiting government funding of abortion exist as riders or amendments that must be enacted into law each year as part of an appropriations bill. Typically, appropriations bills are first passed by the House and then the Senate. Each bill is developed in its own subcommittee.
| 
