Mind the Gap: Congress Prevents Government Shutdown
Did you know that at the end of September 2006, Congress had to pass a resolution to prevent government agencies from closing?
On September 29, 2006, Congress passed an emergency spending measure called a continuing resolution that keeps funding flowing to government agencies at 2006 levels.
The start of the fiscal year is October 1, but Congress was unable to finish the budget before the fall recess. So they passed the resolution, also called a "stopgap" measure, to fund government until after the campaigns and elections.
What is a continuing resolution?
Every federal department, agency, and program is authorized to spend money allotted by Congress. Each year, Congress must pass and the president must sign 13 separate appropriations bills by October 1st in order to fund the national government for the following year. If the Congress and president fail to pass all of the appropriations bills, they will typically agree to a Continuing Resolution that temporarily funds the programs and agencies for which appropriations bills have not been passed.
A Continuing Resolution (CR) must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. Generally, a CR funds agencies or programs for a month or two at the same funding level as the previous year. The main purpose of a CR is to keep the government running long enough for the Congress and President to work out an agreement on all 13 appropriations bills.
While the President and the Congress almost always agree to Continuing Resolutions to keep the government "open," a breakdown in budget negotiations between President Clinton and the Republican Congress in 1995 led to a temporary government shutdown.
Congress passes Defense Authorization and Homeland Security Appropriations
If appropriations bills are any indication of Congress’ priorities, than defense and homeland security are certainly at the top of the list.
Congress passed both Defense and Homeland Security spending measures before the deadline, with $532.8 billion going to national security programs in the Defense and Energy departments and $34.8 billion going to border security.
Within the Security bill, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would get $2.5 billion, $1.5 billion of which would go to the disaster relief fund.
For more on this, click here.
Money for Higher Education
Congress also passed a spending measure on federal student aid programs, funding them at 2006 levels until June 2007.
The Senate failed to pass a more comprehensive measure, The Higher Education Act from the House, which would reauthorize federal student aid including Pell and other grants, as well as waive student loans for spouses of victims of 9-11. The act would also change the rules for grants for colleges with large populations of Hispanic students, waiving the requirement for schools to prove that 50 percent of Hispanic students are low-income.
Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy blocked the bill, wanting to add amendments that would repeal student loan changes made in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 that decreased student loan programs by $12 billion.
What do you think?
Does it worry you that Congress does not tend to pass its appropriations bills before the deadline? Do you approve of where your tax dollars are going? How would you like Congress to appropriate your taxes in the future?
Your input matters
Your representatives in Congress DO care what you think. Especially now -- 2006 is an election year and many representatives will be looking to reconnect with their constituents. Let your congressmen and women know what you think! Give your senators a piece of your mind! To get to your reps, click here.
To explore our archive of past Jobs Issue updates, click here.
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Article Posted on: 10/8/2006
