Which pair of legislative actions provides program authority and spending authority, respectively?

• A. Authorization Bills and Appropriation Bills
• B. Appropriation Bills and Authorization Bills
• C. Budget Bills and Authorization Bills
• D. Revenue Bills and Authorization Bills

Answer: (A)

In budgeting and lawmaking, two distinct actions grant two different kinds of authority. Authorization creates or continues a program, sets policy, eligibility, and sometimes the maximum level of funding the program may later receive. It does not provide actual money. Appropriation, on the other hand, is the act of setting aside and distributing funds so that the government can incur obligations and make payments for a specified period. It provides the spending authority needed to operate the authorized programs.

So the pair that matches “program authority and spending authority, respectively” is: Authorization Bills for the program authority, followed by Appropriation Bills for the spending authority. The other options mix these functions or involve different types of bills that don’t grant the spending authority for the program in question.