A term primarily used in the United States, mandatory spending is spending on certain programs that is required by existing law.
In the United States, mandatory spending refers to budget authority and ensuing outlays provided in laws other than appropriations acts, including annually appropriated entitlements. In fiscal year (FY) 2011, mandatory spending accounted for about 60 percent of the federal budget. The two largest mandatory spending programs are Medicare and Social Security, which together account for nearly 40 percent of the federal budget. However, portions of the budgets for several other departments, including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Education, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, include some mandatory spending.
Famous quotes containing the words mandatory and/or spending:
“Off south, the bison multiply so fast
a slaughter’s mandatory every spring
and every spring the creeks get fat
and Kicking Horse fills up.”
—Richard Hugo (1923–1982)
“We like the chase better than the quarry.... And those who philosophize on the matter, and who think men unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would not have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase, which turns away our attention from these, does screen us.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)