Day 20

Learning Targets:

• Describe the different structures, powers, and functions of each house of Congress.
• Explain how the structure, powers, and functions of both houses of Congress affect the policy- making process.

Opener: Budget Priorities Mini-Simulation

Pick a card and find your 3 of a kind!

Activity #1 - Welcome to the Budget Committee!

Each of you has been given an empty pie chart to create your own budget for FY 2020.  You must fund each of the programs below BUT may choose to appropriate whatever amount of money that you think that it deserves.  You should annotate both the dollar amount and percentage for each of the 13 categories.  Your total must equal 100% and $4,500,000,000,000

Now you have to figure out where the money will come from.  You must raise 3.6 trillion in revenue first.  Where will it come from? You must choose from the 4 categories below, and cannot run a deficit greater than 900,000,000,000

Programs to Fund:

1. Military
2. Medicare/Medicaid
3. Social Security
4. Science
5. Energy
6. Environment
7. International Programs
8. Housing Assistance
9. Transportation
10. Education
11. Food and Agriculture
12. Veterans Benefits
13. Interest on the Debt

Revenue to raise:

1. Personal Income Tax
2. Corporate Tax
3. Payroll Taxes
4. Other (Excise, Estate, Tariffs, etc.)

Activity #2 - TIP-C Comparison

Now take a look at the actual budget and revenue raised by Congress.   Now answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. How close was your budget compared to the actual federal budget?
2. What do you think determines how Congress appropriates money in the budget?
3. What factors might also slow the process of creating a budget?
4. What is mandatory spending?  What is discretionary spending?

Close - N-50 - Budget Process

LD:

SD:

Examples:

Non-Examples:

Related Terms:

*LEGISLATIVE BRANCH QUIZ NEXT WEEK.  BE READY!!!