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December 12, 2006 Third CR Extends Funding through February 15; Year-long CR Anticipated in 110th Congress On Saturday, December 9, The 109th Congress passed a third continuing resolution (CR) to extend funding for most federal agencies through February 15. Programs in the remaining appropriations bills will be funded at the lower of the House-passed, Senate-passed, or FY 2006 enacted levels. Since the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill has not been passed by either the House or Senate, agencies and programs funded under this bill (e.g., AHRQ, CDC, CMS, HRSA, NIH) will be funded at the FY 2006 level. The incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) have announced their intention to enact a year-long CR, minus all earmarks, when the 110 th Congress convenes in early January. According to Congressional Quarterly, if the year-long CR has the same "lowest level" terms as the current, short-term CR, $7 billion dollars will be available under the overall discretionary cap of $873 billion. Earmarks in the current Labor-HHS-Education bill amount to approximately $1 billion, so a year-long CR will provide more available funding for programs. According to Marcia Mabee, Executive Director of the Coalition for Health Funding, some of the $7 billion in additional funds will likely be dedicated to veterans' health, but some funds should be dedicated to programs included in the Labor-HHS-Education bill as well. |
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