Order Code 98-558 GOV
Updated January 25, 2007
Appropriations Bills:
What Is Report Language?
Sandy Streeter
Analyst in American National Government
Government Division
When the Senate or House Appropriations Committee reports an appropriations bill
to the full Senate or House, respectively, the committee typically publishes a committee
report explaining the bill. These reports contain more detailed guidance to departments
and agencies than is provided in the accompanying bill — generally referred to as report
language. Similar guidance is also provided in the managers’ joint explanatory statement
(or managers’ statement) that accompanies a conference report. For more information on
the federal budget process, see [http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].
These committee reports primarily focus on congressional priorities and areas of
disagreement with the President. Although the Senate does not require written reports to
accompany appropriations measures and the House has a procedure for waiving its
reporting requirements, both committees almost without exception prepare reports.
Both report language and managers’ statements generally include detailed spending
instructions, directives, and, sometimes, spending restrictions. The spending instructions
set aside funds within lump-sum amounts in the bill for designated purposes, such as
specified programs, projects, or activities. Most set asides for individual projects,
locations, and institutions are provided in report language and managers’ statements,
instead of the text of the legislation.
Directives contained in appropriations reports may require or encourage departments
or agencies to take specified action or refrain from taking a certain action. For example,
a report might direct an agency to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of an activity or
encourage the agency to implement specified regulations expeditiously.
Spending restrictions might include instructions for a department or agency not to
use funds provided in the bill for specified programs, projects, or activities, or they might
set spending ceilings for these activities (such restrictions are referred to as limitations).
Committee reports also usually provide a comparative statement of the funding
levels contained in the bill and the funding levels requested by the President. In addition,
both houses generally require their Appropriations Committees to provide additional
information, such as the following:

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! A cost estimate that provides a comparison of funding provided in the
measure, except for continuing appropriations, with certain spending
ceilings associated with the annual budget resolution (302(b)
allocations);
! A comparison of the text of statutes the committee proposes to amend or
repeal with the proposed changes (the House also requires a description
of the effect of any provision in a general appropriations bill1 that directly
or indirectly changes the application of existing law); and
! A statement identifying unauthorized appropriations.
Procedures are available in both the Senate and House to waive these rules.
At the direction of a subcommittee chair, committee reports are typically prepared
by the staff of the Senate and House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over
the particular bill or provision. Conflicts between the guidance in the Senate and House
committee reports are usually resolved during conference on the bill and included in the
managers’ statement.
Because committee reports and managers’ statements are not legislative measures
considered on the floor of the Senate or House, they are not subject to key points of order
to which bills and amendments are vulnerable.
Significantly, report language and managers’ statements do not have statutory force,
departments and agencies are not legally bound by their declarations. These documents
do, however, explain congressional intent, and executive branch agencies take them
seriously because they must justify their budget requests annually to the Appropriations
Committees.
1 In the House, general appropriations bills refers to the 13 annual regular appropriations bills
and supplemental appropriations measures, which provide funds for more than one purpose or
agency. The term does not apply to continuing resolutions. In the Senate, by contrast, the term
general appropriations bills refers to regular appropriations bills and supplemental measures
included by the House as well as continuing resolutions.

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