ABSTRACT
Supplemental appropriation bills provide funding supplements for the current fiscal year already in progress, over and above funding provided in the regular appropriation bills. Supplementals normally fund disaster relief efforts, emergent military needs unforeseeable in the normal budget process, and occasional emergency economic relief. At the federal level, supplementals usually provide budget authority, which is then committed to programs by obligations. The actual outlay or spending of that money may occur over a longer period than the year for which the appropriations were made. Supplementals are used at all levels of government in the United States. At state and local levels, supplementals usually are passed in the current year and spent out in the current year. In some instances, a supplemental appropriation may become part of the ongoing funding for an agency; usually, however, supplemental appropriations are for specific one-time purposes of an emergency nature.
