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An appropriation bill or supply bill is a legislative motion which authorizes the government to spend money. In most democracies, approval of the legislature is necessary for the government to spend money.

In a parliamentary system, the defeat of an appropriation bill in a parliamentary vote generally necessitates either a resignation of a government or the calling of a general election. The most famous defeat of a supply bill in Australian history happened in 1975, where the Senate refused to approve a package of appropriation and loan bills, prompting then-Governor General Sir John Kerr to dismiss then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and call a Double Dissolution, appointing Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister until the next election (where the Fraser government was elected).

Under the U.S. Presidential system, the support of the Congress for his appropriation requests is not necessary for the separately-elected President to remain in office, but can severely limit his ability to govern effectively.

In the United States, two types of legislation are used to spend money. An authorization establishes a program that will later spend the money, but may not provide any funding. A mandatory program is one that does not need an additional piece of legislation known as an appropriation in order for spending to occur. The authority for spending to occur for the mandatory program is included in the authorization legislation. Social security benefits are an example of a "mandatory" program. An authorization can create programs and make known the intent of the United States Congress about the level of spending for programs that also require an appropriation. What distinguishes a mandatory program from a discretionary program is that after Congress enacts a law creating a mandatory program, the program is permitted to spend funds until the program expires based on a provision in law, or until a subsequent law either terminates the program or reauthorizes it. "Discretionary" programs typically require annual appropriations legislation.

An appropriation bill is used to actually provide money to "discretionary" programs. Appropriations are generally done on an annual basis, although multi-year appropriations are occasionally passed. According to the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 8, clause 12), military appropriations cannot be for more than two years at a time. An annual appropriation requires that the funds appropriated be obligated (spent) by the end of the fiscal year of the appropriation. Once the fiscal year ends, no more money can be spent via the prior year's appropriation. A new appropriation for the new fiscal year must be passed in order for continued spending to occur, or passage of a special appropriations bill known as a continuing resolution, which generally permits continued spending for a short period of time--usually at prior year levels. The Anti-Deficiency Act makes void any attempt to spend money for which there is no current appropriation.

According to the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 7, clause 1), all bills relating to revenue, generally tax bills, must originate in the House of Representatives, consistent with the Westminster system requiring all money bills to originate in the lower house. The Constitution also states that the "Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills," so in practice the Senate and House traditionally proceed separately, with each body drafting and considering their own bills separately. The Senate generally will amend its version of a particular appropriations bill to the House-passed version in order to send the bill to a conference committee prior to the bill becoming law. This is why the majority of appropriations bills that are enacted contain the H.R. modifier used to identify House introduced legislation.

• Appropriation Act
• Money bill
• Energy Policy Act of 2005
• U.S. House Committee on Appropriations
• U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
• Confidence and supply

• Drafting Budget System Laws -- IMF Technical Guidance Note Ian Lienert and Israel Fainboim, IMF, 2007

• Anti Deficiency Act
• The 1975 Dismissal
• Congressional Research Service, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction, Dec. 2006