Budget Issues: Effects of the Fiscal Year 1990 Sequester
Abstract
The 1990 sequester, ordered in accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended through December 31, 1987, had minimal negative impact on the five civil agencies we examined. Because the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) $116.1 billion projected deficit for fiscal year 1990 indicated the need for sequestering only $16.1 billion governmentwide, a relatively small sequester of 1.4 percent for civil accounts and 1.5 percent for defense accounts was called for. The five agencies actually lost less than 1.4 percent of their final budget authority to sequester because (1) growth in agency appropriations offset sequester reductions and (2) appropriations enacted subsequent to sequestration were partially exempt from that process. Hence, agencies absorbed the sequester's reductions by postponing program expansions and improvements rather than reducing core services. The pattern of increased budget authority and postsequester appropriation enactment reducing effective sequester percentages was found governmentwide. Once final budget authority is taken into account, less than one-fourth of all sequesterable budget accounts lost a full 1.4 or 1.5 percent to sequester.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA267358
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office