Appropriation act
A law that authorizes the government to spend money.
An appropriation act usually follows the enactment of authorizing legislation and is the most common way of providing the authority to fund the operations of government. As a rule, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees take up 13 regular appropriation acts each year.
See also: Appropriation
National Debt Glossary
Looks up the key terms for understanding America's financial crisis