271059/271347/E-02472/E-04036 Concurring and Dissenting Opinion: Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh — Official PDF

, Concurring and Dissenting Opinion · .• 35 • • 6.R. Nos. 271347, 278353, E-024 72 & E-04036 be a valid appropriation which the President may propose as part of the UA in the NEP. b. as part of the legislative I partly agree with this provision. oversight of the Congress However, I note that the proposed and given that there is a limitation would materially affect distinction bet<.veen how both the President and Congress spending for the deficit and design the budget by establishing a spending for the presumption that newly realized unprogrammed revenues or non-tax earnings must appropriations, the first be devoted to programmed conditions for the use of expenditures before being used for new mcome • as well . as unprogrammed appropriations. additional earnings of While this may promote fiscal government from non-tax discipline and clearer delineation revenue sources SHOULD between programmed and BE CLEARLY unprogrammed spending, it also DIFFERENTIATED implicates the economic decision- BETWEEN making of the political branches, PROGRAMMED smce determining whether EXPENDITURES AND additional resources should fund UNPROGRAMMED programmed expenditures, reduce EXPENDITURES, with the deficit, or support contingent or Congress presumptively priority expenditures 1s using these new funds for fundamentally a matter of fiscal programmed expenditures policy. The limitation should be except when there are very framed cautiously so that it regulates clear and convmcmg the conditions for accessing UA reasons (such as foreign without unduly prescribing the assisted projects) that need economic' priorities that properly to be m unprogrammed remain within the discretion of the allocations. political branches. c. its prov1s1011 should be I express my reservation with this within the national fiscal prov1s1011. As explained, UAs are program established in the standby spending authority that Budget and founded on Congress has already appropriated reasonable projections of not<Nithstanding the lack of a definite additional revenues revenue source. To tie UAs with the consistent with its nature as requirement of being founded on narrow contingent "reasonable projections of additional appropriation. revenues" would make the UAs similar to programmed appropriations. The distinction between these two fiscal spheres would .be, lost if UAs are made to