SIMPLIFIED BUDGET CYCLE

BUDGET LEGIS
LATION PHASE
 BUDGET
LEGISLATION
Budget Legislation
Alternatively called the “budget
authorization phase,” this starts
upon the House Speaker’s
receipt of the President’s Budget
and ends with the President’s
enactment of the General
Appropriations Act.
1. House Deliberations
The House of Representatives, in plenary,
assigns the President’s Budget to the
House Appropriations Committee. The
Committee and its Sub-Committees then
schedule and conduct hearings on the
budgets of the departments and agencies
and scrutinize their respective programs
and projects. It then crafts the General
Appropriations Bill (GAB).
1. House Deliberations
In plenary session, the GAB is sponsored,
presented and defended by the
Appropriations Committee and Sub-
Committee Chairmen. As in all other laws, the
GAB is approved on Second and Third Reading
before transmission to the Senate. (Note: In
the First Reading, the President’s Budget is
assigned to the Appropriations Committee.)
2. Senate Deliberations
As in the House process, the Senate conducts its own
committee hearings and plenary deliberations on the
GAB. Budget deliberations in the Senate formally start
after the House of Representatives transmits the GAB.
For expediency, however, the Senate Finance
Committee and Sub-Committees usually start hearings
on the GAB even as House deliberations are ongoing.
2. Senate Deliberations
The Committee submits its
proposed amendments to the
GAB to plenary only after it has
been formally transmitted by
the House.
3. Bicameral Deliberations
Once both Houses of Congress have
finished their deliberations, they will
each constitute a panel to the
Bicameral Conference Committee. This
committee will then discuss and
harmonize the conflicting provisions of
the House and Senate Versions of the
GAB. A Harmonized Version of the GAB
is thus produced.
4. Ratification and Enrollment
The Harmonized or “Bicam”
Version is then submitted to both
Houses, which will then vote to
ratify the final GAB for submission
to the President. Once submitted
to the President for his approval,
the GAB is considered enrolled.
5. The Veto Message
5. The Veto Message
The President and DBM then review the
GAB and prepare a Veto Message, where
budget items subjected to direct veto or
conditional implementation are identified,
and where general observations are made.
Under the Constitution, the GAB is the only
legislative measure where the President can
impose a line-veto (in all other cases, a law is
either approved or vetoed in full).
6. Enactment
Upon enactment of the GAB and approval of the
same by the President, it becomes the General
Appropriations Act or the GAA. For this year, we
have Republic Act No. 10924.
Reenacted Budgets
When the GAA is not enacted before the
fiscal year starts, the previous year’s GAA
is automatically reenacted. This means that
agency budgets for programs, activities and
projects remain the same. Funding for
programs or projects that have already
been terminated is realigned for other
expenditures. Because reenactments are
tedious and prone to abuse, the previous
Administration—with the support of
Congress—has ensured the timely
enactment of a new GAA every year.