CBO Glossary
Obligation Delay
Obligation delay: Legislation that precludes the obligation of an amount of budget authority provided in an appropriation act or in some other law until sometime after the first day on which the budget authority would normally be available. For example, language in an appropriation act for fiscal year 2016 that precluded obligation of an amount until March 1 is an obligation delay; without that language, the amount would have been available for obligation on October 1, 2015 (the first day of fiscal year 2016). See advance appropriation, forward funding, and unobligated balances.
Budget Counsel 