Advocatus Learning: The Summary Control Document
Over the years I’ve had many teachers in politics and public policy who saw fit to invest time in my professional development. In honor of that investment, I want to pay it forward by publishing some learning for the public. Today I’ll cover a key document used in the development of the South Carolina annual appropriations act: the summary control document. This learning activity is 849 words or a little under 5 minutes of your time.
I’ll use the summary control documents for the current fiscal year (FY 2022-2023) published by the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Note, these are the summary control documents of the appropriations act as passed by these two committees, not the full House or Senate.
House Ways & Means Committee Summary Control Document FY 2022-2023
Senate Finance Committee Summary Control Document FY 2022-2023
FY 2022-2023 Appropriations Act Adopted Conference Report
1. The appropriations act always begins in the House. The House can accept all, none, or some of the recommendations in the Governor’s Executive Budget. The Senate is free to do the same with the Governor’s Executive Budget or the House version of the budget.
2. The appropriations act is both an appropriations bill and an authorization bill. Example: an agency is appropriated $1 million for a program. That figure is an authorization - the agency can spend up to $1 million - and it is an appropriation of funds to the agency.
3. The summary control document shows pluses (+) or minuses (-) to budget lines in the base budget. The base budget is the current fiscal year recurring revenue budget. This is called the agency beginning base (5th column from the left if looking at the summary control document). Nonrecurring revenues, the capital reserve fund, and the lottery fund, which is considered nonrecurring, are not part of the base. I’ll illustrate with an example below beginning with step 6.
4. There are three categories of funds shown on the summary control document: state, federal, and other. State funds are recurring appropriations, nonrecurring appropriations, or capital reserve fund appropriations. Federal funds are funds from the federal government; the amounts in the state budget function as an authorization to spend federal funds. Lastly there are Other funds, which are considered a type of state funding but like federal funds this largely functions as an authorization level. Other funds include revenues such as fees/assessments agencies charge for services, fines levied by agencies for violations of state law or regulations, dedicated tax revenues or user fees, and tuition paid by students at public institutions of higher education. Total funds is the summation of all fund types for an agency, again for the purposes of the summary control document.
5. When transitioning to the appropriations act, there are only two types of funds: Total Funds and General Funds. General Funds are State recurring revenues; Total Funds are Other funds (fees/fines/taxes/user fees/tuition) and Federal funds. If the General Funds column is blank that means there are no State recurring funds appropriated for that budget line, meaning that is all Other funds, all Federal funds, or a combination of the two. When the General Funds and Total Funds column are equal, that means the only funding for that budget line is State recurring funds. However, in order to understand authorization increases and decreases at the budget line level, one must use the summary control document.
6. Let’s put this into practice. Look at Line 137 of the House Ways & Means Committee summary control document: Teacher Supplies, an increase of $2,260,000 in State recurring funds (if you want to use the Senate Finance Committee summary control document look at Line 98). This means this line item has been increased by $2,260,000 over the agency budget base.
7. Now take a look at the conference report for FY 2022-2023, Section 1, Department of Education, Page 9, Line 10: Teacher Supply. The base from FY 2021-2022 was $600,000 (State recurring funds only because General and Total funds are equal amounts). The General and Total Funds for this line item for FY 2022-2023 is $2,860,000 (again, only State recurring funds). The difference between these two amounts is $2,260,000 in State recurring funds - the amount shown in the summary control documents.
8. Understanding the summary control document provides a quick reference guide for what changes are proposed to a version of a budget. If a budget line is not shown on the summary control document, and it wasn’t funded by State nonrecurring revenues, then in almost every case it means the proposed funding for that line is the same as the previous budget. Also, there are a few non-recurring budget lines in every budget (most commonly the Education Improvement Act) to watch out for each budget cycle.
9. What about those State nonrecurring appropriations shown in the summary control document? While the summary control document lists them under each agency, in the appropriations act State nonrecurring appropriations are part of a budget proviso in Section 118, usually between 118.15 and 118.20 depending on the budget year. A budget proviso is a law coterminous with the appropriations act. Provisos are often renewed in successive budget years.
10. In conclusion, mastering the summary control document is an important piece of the appropriations act puzzle. It is published before the appropriations act, and before the floor debate begins, providing information about the current direction of that version of the budget.
Keep Calm and Budget On! - Jay W. Ragley
