Cyclopedia of Congressional Budget Law

Current Year

Summary

The term current year has at is defined in statute at section 250(c)(13) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA). For purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Rules of the House and Senate, and all other uses related to the Congressional budget process, the term “current year” means the fiscal year that immediately precedes the “budget year”. 

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Definition from the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985

Current Year

For purposes of the BBEDCA, the following definition from section 250(c)(13) (BBEDCA) is used:

(13) The term “current year” means, with respect to a budget year, the fiscal year that immediately precedes that budget year.^[1]

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[1] The “current year” does not exist in a meaningful sense between October 1 of a calendar year and the date on which Congress first meets. This is the case because the fiscal year preceding the budget year will end at the end of September 30 of each year, but the “budget year” will not begin until the following calendar year on the date on which Congress first meets (per the requirements of Amendment XX of the U.S. Constitution). Hence between October 1 and the Congressional meeting date, the “current year” will be a reference to a fiscal year which has expired. This is distinct from the “budget resolution year” insofar as the year preceding that fiscal year is simply whatever fiscal year it is that precedes a year for which a budget resolution is adopted.

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GAO Glossary of Terms and Definition (September 2005)

Current Year

See under Fiscal Year.

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