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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Legislative Branch: FY2011 Appropriations


Ida A. Brudnick
Analyst on the Congress

The legislative branch appropriations bill provides funding for the Senate; House of Representatives; Joint Items; Capitol Police; Office of Compliance; Congressional Budget Office; Architect of the Capitol, including the Capitol Visitor Center; Library of Congress, including the Congressional Research Service; Government Printing Office; Government Accountability Office; and Open World Leadership Program.

Approximately $5.12 billion was requested for legislative branch operations in FY2011, an increase of 10% over the FY2010 level of $4.656 billion, which was provided in P.L. 111-68 (enacted October 1, 2009). The FY2010 Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-212) provided an additional $12.96 million for the Capitol Police.

The Subcommittees on the Legislative Branch of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have both held hearings during which Members considered the legislative branch requests. Among issues that have been considered during hearings are the following: 
  • the Capitol Police salary miscalculation related to night differential pay and holiday and overtime pay; 
  • the Capitol Police radio project, including timing and infrastructure support by the Architect of the Capitol; 
  • deferred maintenance issues around the Capitol Complex; 
  • technology assessments; 
  • staffing issues related to recruitment and retention, requests for additional fulltime-equivalents (FTE), diversity, and space; and 
  • the potential impact of a flat budget on agency priorities and missions. 
Previously, the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8, enacted on March 11, 2009) provided $4.4 billion for legislative branch activities. This represents an approximately 11% increase over the nearly $4 billion approved by Congress for FY2008. In FY2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) provided an additional $25 million for the Government Accountability Office. The FY2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-32) provided $71.6 million for the new U.S. Capitol Police radio system and $2 million for the Congressional Budget Office. .


Date of Report: September 27, 2010
Number of Pages: 30
Order Number: R41214
Price: $29.95

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