Another Government Shutdown??

Remember last year's government shutdown? That came about because Congress could not agree on a "continuing resolution" or CR. A CR keeps the government operating and spending money when regular appropriation acts have expired and new authority has not yet been enacted. The CR that finally passed will expire at the end of September, leaving a similar situation to the one that prompted the shutdown.

Once again, Congress will have to pass a continuing resolution to fund programs and to keep the federal government operating past the end of this fiscal year, Sept. 30th:

• HJRes 124

  The September 2014 Continuing Resolution

  "Continues funding for government programs and services at the current annual cap rate of $1.012 trillion until Dec. 11, 2014. This rate of funding will remain in place for the length of the continuing resolution, or until Congress approves the annual Appropriations legislation for FY 2015. The bill is “clean” and does not contain highly controversial provisions," according to House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers.

From our Hill Sources: The December 2013 budget deal set spending levels for the federal government at a little over $1 trillion. The appropriations process would require the House and Senate to divvy up that amount. However, to date, the House has passed seven of the 12 annual appropriations bills, while the Senate has yet to pass one. It's unlikely that the House and Senate will complete passage of the bills on time,  so a CR is the only way to keep the government functioning. 

Here are the appropriations bills that Congress has been working on:

1. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Approps: HR 4800 in the House and S 2389 in the Senate
2. Commerce/Justice/Science Approps: HR 4660, passed by the House on May 30th; and S 2437 in the Senate.
3. Defense Approps: HR 4870, passed by the House on June 20th.
4. Energy & Water Approps: HR 4923, passed by the House on July 10th.
5. Financial Services Approps: HR 5016, passed by the House on July 16th.
6. Homeland Security Approps: HR 4903 in the House.
7. Interior & Environment Approps: HR 5171 in the House.
8. Legislative Branch Approps: HR 4487, passed by the House on May 1st.
9. Military Construction/Veterans Affairs Approps: HR 4486, passed by the House on April 30th.
10. State/Foreign Operations Approps: HR 5013 and S 2499 in the House.
11. Transportation/HUD Approps: HR 4745, passed by the House on June 10th; and S 2438 in the House.

Please keep in mind that highlighting a bill doesn't imply a POPVOX endorsement in any way. Rather, we're simply trying to offer one more way to stay informed of an overwhelmingly complex legislative system.