Congressional Research Service

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In FY2023, mandatory spending accounts for an estimated 63% of total federal spending. Social Security alone accounts for about 21% of federal spending. Medicare and the federal share of Medicaid together account for another 25% of federal spending. Therefore, spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid now makes up almost half of total federal spending.

These figures do not reflect the implicit cost of tax expenditures, which are revenue losses attributable to provisions of the federal tax laws that allow a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction from gross income or provide a special credit, a preferential tax rate, or a deferral of tax liability.8 As with mandatory spending, tax policy is not controlled by annual appropriations acts, but by other types of legislation.

Author(s): Congressional Research Service

Publication Date: last updated 7 Nov 2023

Publication Site: U.S. Congress

Puerto Rico’s Public Debts: Accumulation and Restructuring

May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46788https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46788

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Restructuring Puerto Rico’s finances has involved complex disputes among bondholders invested in different types of Puerto Rico’s public debt. This section outlines the structure of the island’s public debts. Since Puerto Rico lost access to credit markets in late 2014, its current debt structure has been largely unchanged, aside from the runoff of short-term notes, the 2018 wind-down of the GDB, and the 2019 restructuring of sales-tax-backed COFINA bonds (COFINA—an acronym for the Corporación del Fondo de Interés Apremiante—is also known as the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation). Figure 2 and Table A-1 show debt levels as of the end of July 2016.

Author(s): D. Andrew Austin

Publication Date: 18 May 2021

Publication Site: Congressional Research Service

STATE AND LOCAL CORONAVIRUS FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS

March 7, 2021March 7, 2021 Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.naco.org/resources/featured/state-and-local-coronavirus-fiscal-recovery-funds

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In a major victory for America’s counties, the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds legislation, part of the American Rescue Plan Act was passed by the U.S. Senate on March 6. The bill, which now heads back to the U.S. House of Representatives for final consideration, includes $65.1 billion in direct, flexible aid to every county in America, as well as other crucial investments in local communities.
The Senate version amends the House-adopted bill in several important ways:
The U.S. Department of Treasury would still oversee and administer these payments to state and local governments, and every county would be eligible to receive a direct allocation from Treasury. States, municipalities, and counties would now receive funds in two tranches – both tranches would provide 50 percent of the entity’s total allocation. In cases where a state has a very high level of unemployed individuals, these states may receive both tranches at the same time.

In order to receive a payment either under the first or second tranche, local governments must provide the U.S. Treasury with a certification signed by an authorized officer. The U.S. Treasury is required to pay first tranche to counties not later than 60-days after enactment, and second payment no earlier than 12 months after the first payment.
The table below contains projected allocations for counties from the U.S. Treasury, if the proposal is signed into law. The values are informed by the House Oversight Committee and the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The estimates are not official values from the U.S. Treasury and are subject to change.

Date Accessed: 7 March 2021

Publication Site: National Association of Counties