House crafting CR to prevent government shutdown
Lawmakers are working on a continuing resolution to fund the government through late fall. Congress has not approved any of the 12 appropriations bills necessar...
By Ruben Gomez
Reporter
Federal News Radio
The House continues work on a short-term bill to fund the government after fiscal 2011 ends Sept. 30, a House Appropriations Committee spokesperson told Federal News Radio.
Though members are working out details, they likely will vote on a continuing resolution the week of Sept. 19, said committee Communications Director Jennifer Hing.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters Wednesday he anticipates the bill would fund agencies through late fall, giving the House and Senate more time to resolve their differences.
Congress has not approved any of the 12 appropriations bills necessary to keep agencies running when the new fiscal year begins, Oct. 1. The government would shutdown if Congress does not act before then.
In preparing for the 2012 budget, the House and Senate have capped discretionary spending for 2012 at $1.04 trillion.
Both the House and Senate continue to work on appropriations but only spending bills for military construction and the Veterans Affairs Department have made it through both chambers. However, the House and Senate have not resolved their differences so a final bill is still far from complete. Congress has agreed to cap spending for those two budget items at $72.5 billion.
On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $55.15 billion bill to fund the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The legislation would provide $19.8 billion less for discretionary spending than what the President requested, the committee said. It would also reduce spending by $217 million, when compared to last year’s levels.
The bill would fully fund the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Air Transportation System, committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved spending bills for the departments of Agriculture, Energy and Homeland Security. The House passed their version of those bills in June and July.
Along with the military construction and VA bill, the House passed the Defense and Legislative appropriations bills for 2012.
The rest of the bills have not made it out of the either chamber.
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