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Bush Signs Continuing Resolution into Law

October 1, 2008

On Tuesday, October 1 President Bush signed into law the continuing resolution (CR) which extends funding to federal agencies at 2008 base spending levels until Congress takes further action which will likely be in March, 2009.  The CR went into effect on October 1, the beginning of the 2009 fiscal year, with funding for the international affairs budget at the FY 2008 spending level of $34.3 billion.

Update on the FY 2009 International Affairs Budget: House Approves CR

September 26, 2008

The House voted Wednesday, 370 to 58, to approve a Continuing Resolution (H.R. 2638) that will keep the government running until March 6, when a new president is in office.  The CR, which will fund most of the federal government at FY 2008 base levels, was inserted into the 2008 Homeland Security Bill.  Also included in this legislation were the FY 2009 Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bills, as well as $22.9 billion disaster relief package.  The Senate is expected to examine the measure in the next few days.

The three appropriations bills included in this legislation were all defense-related and all increased funding from the 2008 base levels.  The International Affairs budget will be funded at the 2008 base spending level of $34.3 billion at least until a new Congress takes office in January.  The following programs under the International Affairs budget were afforded emergency spending funds:

·        State Department diplomatic and consular programs: $272 million

·        State Department embassy security, construction and maintenance: $77 million

·        Economic Support Fund: $365 million for Georgia and $100 million for Haiti

·        International Food Aid: $100 million

The FY 2009 International Affairs Budget (150 Account) would have been $36.6 billion, according to the versions of the 2009 appropriations bill approved by the House’s and the Senate’s appropriation subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations.  When combined with $1.3 billion for international food aid programs and $300 million for the Global AIDS Fund, the total International Affairs spending for FY 2009 would have been $38.2 billion, which is almost $3 billion more than the FY 2008 base spending levels, which will fund the account at least until January.

For more information on the legislation, please follow the links below.

House Roll Call for H.R. 2638:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll632.xml

Text of the Bill:
http://www.rules.house.gov/110/text/hr2638cr_hamndsamnd.pdf

Explanatory Statement:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/Z?r110:H24SE8-0030:e202905

Update on the FY 2009 International Affairs Budget: Continuing Resolution Likely

September 23, 2008

            Congress currently has less than two weeks to get all of its appropriations bills passed through multiple committees and enacted into law.  An ongoing budget stalemate between Congress and the Administration, as well as a continuing debate in Congress about off-shore oil drilling suggests that few of these spending bills will be enacted.  The Appropriations Bill submitted by the State, Foreign Operations subcommittee, for example has not yet been assigned a date to go to a full committee, and October 1st is only days away.

What will likely occur is the enactment of a Continuing Resolution (CR), effective as of October 1, 2008.  While it is possible that the CR will extend only long enough to let the current Congress pass the Appropriations Bills, it is far more likely that the CR will extend into March 2009, therefore postponing any budget negotiations until the new Administration takes office. 

Although some Appropriations Bills may be passed with the CR (likely Military Bills), the Resolution would extend current spending levels for each of the other committees until such time as Congress can pass the spending bills for each subcommittee (likely under the new Administration).  For the Foreign Affairs committees, a CR would make long term commitments of funds nearly impossible, severely limiting foreign operations abilities. 

There is good news however.  First, an earlier 2008 supplemental spending bill in Congress (Public Law 110-252) designated an extension of funds for the 150 account, which temporarily provides higher funding for foreign operations.  Second, the Appropriations Bill proposed by the Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, which tells us what the budget may look like once it is enacted, shows several funding increases from the FY 2008 budget.  The total foreign affairs budget as proposed stands at $38.2 billion, which is $3.9 billion more than current base spending.