�Use of the Chief Administrative Officer's salaries and expenses appropriation to pay certain Child Care Center expenses for fiscal<br> year 2003, B-300673, July 3, 2003

B-300673 Jul 03, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Blodgett: This is in response to your request for our views concerning whether the authority provided in the fiscal year 2003 appropriations act for the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to make certain payments involving the House of Representatives Child Care Center from the salaries and expenses appropriations for the Office of the CAO is applicable to payments made during the period from October 1. Payments made during that period were made from the Child Care Revolving Fund. BACKGROUND While Congress was considering eleven of the thirteen fiscal year 2003 appropriations bills. Was enacted on September 30. Fund or authorization is contained is enacted into law.". There were seven more continuing resolutions for fiscal year 2003 providing for the continuation of funding through February 20. View Decision Use of the Chief Administrative Officer's salaries and expenses appropriation to pay certain Child Care Center expenses for fiscal year 2003, B-300673, July 3, 2003 Mr. Timothy Blodgett Acting Counsel, Immediate Office of the Chief Administrative Officer U.S. House of Representatives Dear Mr. Blodgett: This is in response to your request for our views concerning whether the authority provided in the fiscal year 2003 appropriations act for the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to make certain payments involving the House of Representatives Child Care Center from the salaries and expenses appropriations for the Office of the CAO is applicable to payments made during the period from October 1, 2002 to the date of enactment of the 2003 appropriations act. Payments made during that period were made from the Child Care Revolving Fund, and you ask whether that Fund may be reimbursed for those payments under the new authority. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the CAO should use funds appropriated for salaries and expenses to reimburse the Child Care Fund for the applicable payments made on or after October 1, 2002. BACKGROUND While Congress was considering eleven of the thirteen fiscal year 2003 appropriations bills, it passed a series of continuing resolutions to keep the government functioning. /1/ The original continuing resolution, Public Law 107-229, was enacted on September 30, 2002, to provide funds for the continued operation of the relevant departments and agencies under the authority and conditions provided in the applicable appropriations acts for fiscal year 2002 until enactment of a fiscal year 2003 appropriation act or October 4, 2002, whichever occurred first. /2/ Section 108 of Public Law 107-229 provided that expenditures made pursuant to the continuing resolution "shall be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or authorization whenever a bill in which such applicable appropriation, fund or authorization is contained is enacted into law." Pub. L. No. 107-229, supra, 116 Stat. at 1467. There were seven more continuing resolutions for fiscal year 2003 providing for the continuation of funding through February 20, 2003. /3/ While some of these extensions also contained substantive amendments, none affected section 108 of Public Law 107-229. In January of 2003, the House and the Senate incorporated the eleven appropriations bills under consideration into a single bill, H.J.Res. 2, the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution for Fiscal Year 2003, and agreed to the conference report (H. Rept. 108-10) on February 13, 2003. H.R. Rep. No. 10, 108th Cong., 1st Sess. (2003). H.J. Res. 2 was signed into law on February 20, 2003, as Public Law 108-7 (117 Stat. 11-554). The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003 is found in Division H of Public Law 108-7 (117 Stat. 345-384), section 108 of which provides as follows: "Sec. 108. (a) Section 312(d) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1992 (2 U.S.C. 2112(d)/4/), is amended- (1) in paragraph (1), by striking 'paragraph (2)' and inserting 'paragraphs (2) and (3)'; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: '(3) The House of Representatives shall make payments from amounts provided in appropriations acts for salaries and expenses of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer for the following activities carried out under this section: '(A) The payment of the salary of the director of the center. '(B) The reimbursement of individuals employed by the center for the cost of training classes and conferences in connection with the provision of child care services, together with the cost of travel (including transportation and subsistence) incurred in connection with such classes and conferences.' (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2003 and each succeeding fiscal year." /5/ 117 Stat. 355 (codified at 2 U.S.C. Sec. 2062(d)(3)).