09.29.15

BUDGET BULLETIN: 2016 Continuing Resolution

WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Budget Committee today released its September 29, 2015, issue of the Budget Bulletin focused on the 2016 Continuing Resolution, which would fund government agencies through December 11, 2015. The Budget Bulletin provides regular expert articles by Senate Budget Committee analysts on the issues before Congress relating to the budget, deficits, debt, and the economy.

Read the full Senate Budget Bulletin here.

Excerpts follow:

2016 Continuing Resolution

 

With appropriations bills unable to achieve cloture in the Senate, a CR once again is needed for 2016. The difference this year is that both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees have reported all 12 appropriations measures to their respective chambers (see table below). The House passed six of those bills, and progress on the others failed because of amendments unrelated to funding levels.

The Senate introduced a clean CR on September 24 as an amendment to H.R. 719, funding government agencies through December 11. This short-term funding measure is in line with the standard structure and organization of previous CRs. In order to stay within the total spending limits set by the BCA, the 2016 CR contains an across-the-board reduction of 0.2108 percent. As shown in the table below, while the CR overall stays under the total BCA spending cap, nondefense spending exceeds its cap and defense spending falls below its cap. 

Importantly, for the duration of this CR, the nondefense overage will not result in an across-the-board reduction to bring appropriations to the cap level. An across-the-board reduction would occur, however, if the CR were extended past the end of this session of Congress.

 

 

# # #