Fiscal Year

By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: October 3, 2003

This is Bob Doughty¹. Welcome to the VOA Special English Economics Report. You can now hear environment news on Tuesday as part of Science in the News.
Our first Economics Report is about a timely subject. Have you ever wondered what is a 1)fiscal² year? A fiscal year is simply a way to record and report financial activity. It is the same length as a 2)calendar year. In fact, many businesses begin their fiscal year on January first.
The fiscal year for the United States government starts on October first and ends September thirtieth. Other fiscal years begin in April or July. The American Institute of Certified³ Public Accountants begins its fiscal year on August first.
Accountants add up earnings⁴ and losses at the end of a fiscal year. These numbers are needed to know how much is owed for taxes, and how much is left for the next budget.
Congress is supposed to approve federal spending for the coming fiscal year by October first. This does not always happen.
President Bush gave Congress his spending plan for fiscal two-thousand-four on February third. That was only the beginning.
Both 3)the House of Representatives and the Senate must write and vote on their own budget resolution. This is a general plan for spending.
Then, a conference committee meets. Members from both houses are on this committee. They approve a final budget resolution which goes to a vote in both houses. But this is not the end of the process.
Committees in both houses must also approve the exact amount of money for each program. This is called 4)appropriations⁶. Under the committees are 5)subcommittees that make decisions about areas like education and defense⁷.
Bills to permit spending then go to the full House and Senate for a vote. The appropriations process often takes place at the same time as the budget resolution process.
Government offices can close if the president has not signed a new budget by October first. But Congress can pass a continuing resolution, like the one now in place. Continuing resolutions provide money for government operations at current levels until a budget is completed.
All this cannot take too much time. Only four months into the new fiscal year, the president must give Congress a new budget and the whole process starts over again.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. If you have a question, send it to [email protected]. This is Bob Doughty.

注释:
1) fiscal year n.(美)财政年度, 会计年度
2) calendar year n. 历年
3) the House of Representatives and the Senate n. （美国等国的）众议院和参议院
4) appropriation⁵ [ E7prEupri5eiFEn ] n.占有, 挪用(只指定用途的一笔), 拨款
5) subcommittee [ 5sQbkE5miti ] n.委员会的附属委员会, 小组委员会

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

6 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。