Budget Legislation

Alternatively called the budget authorization phase, this starts upon the House Speakers receipt of
the Presidents Budget and ends with the Presidents enactment of the General Appropriations Act.

What are House Deliberations?

What are Senate Deliberations?
What are Bicameral Deliberations?
What is Ratification and Enrollment?
What is the Veto Message?
What is Enactment?
What are Reenacted Budgets?

1. House Deliberations

The House of Representatives, in plenary, assigns the Presidents 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).
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 Presidents Budget is assigned to the Appropriations Committee.)

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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.

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

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

When the GAA is not enacted before the fiscal year starts, the previous years 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 Aquino Administrationwith the support of Congresshas committed to ensure the timely enactment of a
new GAA every year.

Reenacted Budgets
When the GAA is not enacted before the fiscal year starts, the previous years 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 Aquino Administrationwith the support of Congress
has committed to ensure the timely enactment of a new GAA every year.