As Congress goes through its annual appropriations process, whereby Members decide on spending levels and priorities for federal agencies, the Northeast-Midwest Institute continues to track regionally-relevant programs, their funding, and regional support. Throughout the process of developing the federal budget, from introduction of the President’s budget request to the Committee process and on to floor votes, the NEMWI provides overviews of the bills for Congressional staff and regional stakeholders.
For the next several weeks, behind the scenes in Congress we’ll find House and Senate appropriations committee members and staff crafting an omnibus 2016 fiscal year spending package that both meets the conditions of the bipartisan budget deal signed into law three weeks ago (H.R.1314 – the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015), and that can be passed by both chambers while avoiding a Presidential veto. Negotiators have until December 11 to prepare spending legislation and get it passed. After that date, the continuing resolution currently funding the federal government expires. The alternatives to passing an omnibus bill by then are a federal government shutdown or yet another short-term extension. Congressional staff indicate that appropriators are unlikely to finish their spending bill negotiations until the week of November 30 at the earliest.
The House has passed spending bills funding the following regionally-relevant federal entities:
- Department of Energy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Department of Commerce, and other science agencies
- Departments of Transportation and Housing & Urban Development
The House is still waiting for the floor debate for the following spending bills:
- Department of the Interior and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education
Though the Senate has yet to fully pass any of its spending bills, the Committee has prepared for floor debate spending bills for: