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Summary

Over the years, House and Senate rules generally have been used to promote the separate consideration of substantive legislation and measures providing annual appropriations to federal agencies, chiefly so that the regular funding of the federal government is not impeded by controversies associated with authorizing and other legislation. The key rules upon which this separation is based are House Rule XXI and Senate Rule XVI. On July 26, 1999, the Senate agreed to S.Res.160, a measure effectively overturning a 1995 precedent that had caused the Senate's ban against considering legislative provisions in annual appropriations acts not to be enforced for several years. The procedural separation, however, is not ironclad because (1) the rules are not self-enforcing; (2) the rules may be waived in various ways; and (3) the rules are not fully comprehensive in their coverage and application. Legislative provisions may generate controversy with any type of annual appropriations act, including regular, continuing, and supplemental appropriations acts. The most visible controversies in recent years often have been associated with omnibus appropriations acts, which are measures that combine two or more regular appropriations acts. During the 1980s and 1990s and continuing into the 2000s, there has been a greater use of omnibus appropriations acts; in some instances, a considerable portion of these omnibus appropriations acts has consisted of legislative provisions. This report illustrates House and Senate practices regarding legislative provisions by listing dozens of major legislative provisions that were included in 13 omnibus appropriations acts enacted in recent years, as well legislative provisions included in recent supplemental appropriations acts. In addition, the report lists more than a dozen legislative provisions that were dropped from three of the omnibus appropriations acts. The report will be updated as developments warrant. (For more information on omnibus appropriations acts, see CRS Report RL32473, Omnibus Appropriations Acts: Overview of Recent Practices, by Robert Keith.)

Related Legislation:
• S.R.160

Related Reports:
• RL30619

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