Principles of Federal Appropriations Law - US Government ...

Chapter 4
Availability of Appropriations: Purpose
115 Stat. 514, 552–53 (Nov. 12, 2001). This statute is now codified at
40 U.S.C. § 590(g). Office of Personnel Management regulations governing
agency use of appropriated funds for child care costs for lower income
employees are at 5 C.F.R. pt. 792, subpt. B, 68 Fed. Reg. 14127, 14129
(Mar. 24, 2003) (Interim Rule).
In late 1989, Congress enacted new child care legislation for the armed
forces, including the authority to use fees collected from parents. Military
Child Care Act of 1989, title XV of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, Pub. L. No. 101-189, 103 Stat. 1352, 1589
(Nov. 29, 1989), formerly codified at 10 U.S.C. § 103 note. This provision
was revised and recodified by Pub. L. No. 104-106, § 568, 110 Stat. 186, 329–
336 (Feb. 10, 1996), which added new legislation governing Department of
Defense child care programs. 10 U.S.C. § 1791 et seq. 81 Section 1791
expresses the policy of Congress that:
“[T]he amount of appropriated funds available during a
fiscal year for operating expenses for military child
development centers and programs shall be not less than
the amount of child care fee receipts that are estimated to
be received by the Department of Defense during that fiscal
year.” 82
In 71 Comp. Gen. 527 (1992), GAO addressed the analogous issue of the use
of appropriated funds to provide “eldercare” facilities for adult relatives of
federal employees, as well as related counseling services. In response to a
request for a decision from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), GAO
concluded that eldercare was not a necessary expense for which IRS’s
appropriations were available. GAO pointed out that Congress had
provided specific authority for child care in former 40 U.S.C. § 490b and,
since eldercare was not a “typical benefit offered the American workforce,”
similar benefits were available to federal workers only pursuant to specific
legislation. It was “for the Congress to decide whether agency
appropriations [could] be used to support eldercare centers.” IRS’s
appropriations, therefore, were not available for costs associated with
81 Implementation of the DOD program is discussed in U.S. General Accounting Office,
Child Care: How Do Military and Civilian Center Costs Compare? GAO/HEHS-00-7
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 14, 1999).
82 See also Child Development Programs, DOD Instruction 6060.2 (Jan. 19, 1993); School-Age
Care Program, DOD Instruction 6060.3 (Dec. 19, 1996).
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