Bill Introduced in House to Fund Government Past Mid-Term Elections

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced a stop-gap Continuing Resolution (CR) today (September 9) to fund the government through December 11, 2014.  The bill could be voted on in the House as early as Thursday.

The CR (H. J. Res. 124) generally continues funding for the government at current levels and does not include “highly controversial provisions” according to the committee’s press release.  Rogers called it a “temporary, imperfect measure” and said what is really needed is passage of the 12 regular appropriations bills.  The House has passed seven of them, but none has passed the Senate. 

The bill keeps total government spending at its current level of $1.012 trillion, but some changes are made within that total to fund new activities.  Most are related to national security, veterans affairs, customs and immigration, and responding to the Ebola crisis.  The amounts appropriated in the FY2014 appropriations bills (including for NASA, NOAA and DOD) are reduced by 0.0554 percent presumably to pay for those new activities. 

Two space-related provisions would allow funding flexibility for weather satellite programs and extension of the authorization for the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank through June 30, 2015.  Despite the press release’s assertion that the CR does not contain highly controversial provisions, reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank is a topic of strong debate.  The bank helps finance U.S. exports of manufactured goods and services.   From a space policy standpoint, organizations like the Aerospace Industries Association argue that Ex-Im bank financing is critical to support exports of satellites, for example, and reauthorization is needed.  Opponents argue that it distorts the free market by the government picking winners and losers.  The bank’s current authorization expires on September 30.

The House and Senate are both hoping to complete must-pass legislative business by the end of next week or shortly thereafter so members can return to the campaign trail.  That does not necessarily mean smooth sailing for the CR.  Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), for one, has said that he wants to include language to block President Obama from taking action on immigration using executive action.  Cruz is widely criticized or praised, depending on one’s point of view, for last year’s 16-day government shutdown. Whether he would attempt that again in an election year is an open question.  He has been quoted in recent days as saying he does not want another shutdown, but that was before his comments today that “we should use any and all means necessary to prevent the president from illegally granting amnesty.”