President Barack Obama signed a continuing appropriations resolution (H.J.Res. 117) Friday, that will provide funding for the federal government and extend the federal pay freeze through Wednesday, March 27, 2013.

The resolution, which was introduced by House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), provides $1.047 trillion in funding for 2013, which represents a 0.6 percent across-the-board increase above fiscal 2012 levels.

In August, President Obama proposed a 0.5 percent pay raise that would only take effect once Congress passed a 2013 budget, a de facto extension of the current two-year freeze. The CR makes the extension official.

When the bill was introduced, Colleen Kelley, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the extension of the pay freeze was “disappointing,” and that the union would press lawmakers to include a retroactive pay raise when Congress takes up individual appropriations bills.

The resolution increases the rate of operations for Corps of Engineers-Civil appropriations under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2012 by 0.612 percent.

Other provisions of the resolution include:

• Additional funding for the Homeland Security Department’s cybersecurity efforts.
• Additional funding for the Veterans Benefit Administration “to meet an increase in the disability claims workload.”
• Requiring all federal agencies to provide spending plans to Congress “to ensure transparency and the proper use of taxpayer dollars.

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