Denominators Matter
First a long note on numbers:
The main page is showing the obligations per program divided by total obligations, which is then multiplied by a $10,000 tax bill (or whatever tax bill you input). Obligations are the amount the government commits to spending in that year. It may be less then the amount budgeted (if some of the funds from the current year aren’t spent) or more than the amount budged (if funds from last year were carried over to the new year).
The goal of the main page is to compare how much money is spent on humanitarian aid vs. other budget functions. I used money per $10,000 tax bill because numbers in the millions and trillions are hard to compare. At some point, everything is just a very big number. Since every number on the main page is divided by the same total obligations and multiplied by the same tax bill, apples are still being compared to apples.
That last point is important because it’s very easy to be deceptive with the budget when you are comparing apples to apple orchards. For example, there’s a common meme with a message like “Billions are spent on Foreign Aid, yet Americans only received $1,200”. In this case, we are comparing “total budget for foreign aid” to “small portion of the domestic budget divided by all Americans”. A fairer comparison would be “Billions were spent of foreign aid, trillions were spent on Americans”
Below, I’m providing full numbers because that’s the language the budget works in, and it might be helpful when talking with your representatives.
So with all those caveats, here are the raw numbers for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022 budget. (The Fiscal Year 2022 runs from Oct 1, 2021 to Sep 30, 2022)
Step 1
The total budget for discretionary spending is laid in the Congressional Budget Resolution. This budget excludes mandatory spending, such as Social Security payments and interest payments.
Step 2
The total budget for discretionary spending is divided among 12 subcommittees. The subcommittee of interest to us is the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee, which controls humanitarian spending, among other things.
Here’s the part of the Suballocation of Budget Allocation for Fiscal Year 2022 report concerning the State, Foreign Operations bill. Numbers are in millions of dollars:
| Subcommittee | Discretionary Mandatory Total | Mandatory | Total |
| State, Foreign Operations: | |||
| Budget authority | 62,242 | 159 | 62,401 |
| Outlays | 58,000 | 159 | 58,159 |
The difference between Budget Authority from the Budget Allocation and Outlays comes down to multi-year projects. The Budget Authority allows agencies to spend money, but that money may need to be spent over the course of a few years. Outlays is the amount actually spent in this fiscal year.
Step 3
The subcommittees allocate their portion of the budget to Federal Accounts (Treasury spending accounts) in an allocation bill. The State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee’s allocation bill is called the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Funding Bill. This bill allocates funds to most of the Federal Accounts involved with humanitarian aid.
Below are extracts from the bill assigning funds to the “International Disaster Assistance”, “Contributions to International Organizations” , and “Global Health Program” Federal Accounts.
INTERNATIONAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE
For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for international disaster relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction assistance, $4,682,362,000, to remain available until expended…
CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, to meet annual obligations of membership in international multilateral organizations, pursuant to treaties ratified pursuant to the advice and consent of the Senate, conventions, or specific Acts of Congress, $1,662,928,000, of which $96,240,000 may remain available until September 23 30, 2023: Provided…
GLOBAL HEALTH PROGRAMS
For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of chapters 1 and 10 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, for global health activities, in addition to funds otherwise available for such purposes, $4,561,450,000, to remain available until September 30, 15 2023, and which shall be apportioned directly to the United States Agency for International Development: Provided, That this amount shall be made available for training, equipment, and technical assistance to build the capacity of public health institutions and organizations in developing countries, and for such activities as: (1) child survival and maternal health programs; (2) immunization and oral rehydration programs; (3) other health, nutrition, water and sanitation programs which directly address the needs of mothers and children, and related education programs; (4) assistance for children displaced or orphaned by causes other than AIDS; (5) programs for the prevention, treatment, control of, and research on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, malaria, and other infectious diseases including neglected tropical diseases, and for assistance to communities severely affected by HIV/AIDS, including children infected or affected by AIDS; (6) disaster preparedness training for health crises; (7) programs to prevent, prepare for, and respond to, unanticipated and emerging global health threats, including zoonotic diseases; and (8) family planning/reproductive health: Provided further, That funds appropriated under this paragraph may be made available for a United States contribution to The GAVI Alliance…
Step 4.
The accounts are administered by Federal Agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State. These two agencies administer many of the federal accounts concerning humanitarian assistance.
Samantha Power is the current Administrator of USAID. She’s the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and I highly recommend her book, An Education of an Idealist. She seems amazing.
Again, please call your representatives. In the ideal world, the best way to raise money provided to WFP and UNICEF would be to increase the budget for the State and Foreign Operations. A rising tide raises all boats.
Credit: forked from https://observablehq.com/@elibenton/who-represents-me