Congress Approves 6-Month Continuing ResolutionOn March 21, 2013, the House and Senate agreed to a six-month Continuing Resolution to fund the government through September 30, 2013, the end of the federal fiscal year. The spending package maintains an overall spending level of $984 billion, which includes the $85 billion in sequestration cuts that will distributed across all 12 of the fiscal 2013 appropriations bills within the resolution. However, the resolutions includes modified appropriations language for five of the 12 fiscal 2013 spending bills – Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Homeland Security, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Defense. The remaining seven bills would continue funding at current levels, minus the across-the-board cuts for the final six months of fiscal 2013, with some spending changes.
Following is a summary of the fiscal 2013 Continuing Resolution.
Agriculture: $139.3 billion, 2 percent more than fiscal 2012, before the sequestration cuts are taken into account. More than 85 percent of the money is for mandatory programs, including crop price supports and nutrition programs. The measure would provide $20.5 billion in discretionary funding, 6 percent more than in 2012. Money for food stamps would be reduced 4 percent. The measure includes $55 million specifically to prevent furloughs — under the sequestration — of meat, poultry and egg inspectors for the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Senate amendment increased Agriculture spending by $285 million, compared with the House version.
Commerce-Justice-Science: $50.2 billion in discretionary budget authority, 5 percent less than comparable fiscal 2012 funding, before the sequestration cuts are taken into account. The bill provides a total of $59.9 billion, which is about $100 million less than 2012, and includes $3.3 billion in offsetting collections. It provides increases for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Institute of Standards Technology, FBI cybersecurity programs, the Community Oriented Policing Services program, and the National Science Foundation. Reductions include a 45 percent cut to administrative funding for the Justice Department and a 51 percent cut to funding for the Economic Development Administration.
Defense: $605.3 billion before the sequestration cuts are taken into account, including $518.1 billion in base funding for the Pentagon, roughly equal to the fiscal 2012 level. The bill also includes $87.2 billion for overseas contingency operations, most of which is associated with the war in Afghanistan. The Office of Management and Budget estimates that the sequestration would cut most defense accounts by 7.8 percent in fiscal 2013. Spending on military personnel and most war funding are generally exempt. Operations and maintenance readiness funding is $10.4 billion more than in 2012. The Senate amendment increased Defense spending by $83 million, compared with the House version.
Homeland Security: $46 billion in pre-sequestration funding, including $6.4 billion in disaster relief funding, $1.4 billion in mandatory Coast Guard retirement funding and $254 million in Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism funding. The total is in line with the department’s fiscal 2012 level. The bill would provide $10.4 billion for Customs and Border Protection, 2 percent more than 2012; $5.4 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, down 2 percent; $5.2 billion for the Transportation Security Administration, down 6.5 percent; $10.2 billion for the Coast Guard, down 1percent; and $10.8 billion for FEMA, up 1 percent, including disaster relief funds.
Military Construction-Veterans Affairs: $133.9 billion for veterans programs and $10.6 billion for military construction, with $229 million for related agencies, before the sequestration cuts are taken into account. Funding for the Veterans Affairs Department is exempt from automatic sequester cuts. The Senate amendment increased Military Construction-VA spending by $5 million compared with the House version.
Yearlong CR: The bill continues appropriations through September 30, 2013, to finance the remainder of the government, freezing at fiscal 2012 levels most accounts for the seven other appropriations bills: Energy-Water, Financial Services, Interior-Environment, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, State-Foreign Operations, and Transportation-HUD. The Senate bill included a wide variety of funding shifts designed to lessen the effects of the sequestration cuts. Specified levels in the measure include a $1.3 billion increase for enhancing security at U.S. embassies and increases for Head Start and Child Care block grants. Cuts include a $10 million rescission for the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Overall, the Senate amendment increased Financial Services spending by $227 million compared with the House version, Labor-HHS-Education by $164 million, and Transportation-HUD by $385 million.
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