Congress Passes Continuing Resolution – Avoids Government Shutdownn
September 29, 2016
Last night, Congress passed a stopgap spending bill that would keep the federal government funded through December 9, 2016. The measure also provides $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus. Additionally, it provides for a full year of funding for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and military construction projects. The legislation as passed on a bipartisan basis. It cleared the House of Representatives by a vote of 342-85 and the Senate by a vote of 78-21. You can read the full measure here.
After the November elections, it will be up to Congress to figure out a path forward to provide funding for the rest of FY 2017. Some lawmakers have advocated for a full-year continuing resolution or to punt spending decisions into 2017. However, because both House and Senate Appropriations bills provide increases for the Indian Health Service (IHS) passing the legislation in December will be better than a full year continuing resolution. It will also give IHS and Tribal health programs better ability to plan and execute their FY 2017 budgets.
The House-passed Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5538) provides $5.1 billion for IHS (an increase of $271 million above FY 2016) and the Senate’s draft Appropriations bill (S. 3068) provides $4.99 billionfor IHS in FY 2017 (an increase of $186 million above FY 2016).
If you have any questions about FY 2017 appropriations please contact Caitrin McCarron Shuy, NIHB’s Director of Congressional Relations at (202) 507-4085 orcshuy@nihb.org.
