I remember one of my old bosses telling me the "funny season" is when elections are pending. Then you never know what is going to happen. The following is extracted from an email I received. Given we have the federal mid-term elections this year I expect that the scenario described below will play out. That will delay homeland security grant programs by 2-3 months.
...it is growing more and more likely if not outright certain that Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution to fund much of the government until after the November election, thereby postponing final action on these appropriations bills until November-December. The one bill that may be completed before the elections, as well as being used as the vehicle for the Continuing Resolution, is the Defense Appropriations bill.
Defense spending is traditionally seen as a must-do piece of legislation, particularly in an election year. However, even with the nation fighting two wars, Congress doesn't always get the defense spending bill done on time. It has missed the Oct. 1 deadline in three of the seven budget years since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and in two of these cases, fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2006, it took until December to get the law enacted.
What form the post-election appropriations process takes will be determined in large part by the outcome of those elections. The options could include:
⢠An omnibus appropriations bill bundling all the bills together into one legislative behemoth
⢠Several minibus appropriations bills bundling several but not all of the bills together
⢠Although unlikely, two other options could be:
. Passage of each individual appropriations bill.
. Passage of a long-term Continuing Resolution
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...it is growing more and more likely if not outright certain that Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution to fund much of the government until after the November election, thereby postponing final action on these appropriations bills until November-December. The one bill that may be completed before the elections, as well as being used as the vehicle for the Continuing Resolution, is the Defense Appropriations bill.
Defense spending is traditionally seen as a must-do piece of legislation, particularly in an election year. However, even with the nation fighting two wars, Congress doesn't always get the defense spending bill done on time. It has missed the Oct. 1 deadline in three of the seven budget years since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and in two of these cases, fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2006, it took until December to get the law enacted.
What form the post-election appropriations process takes will be determined in large part by the outcome of those elections. The options could include:
⢠An omnibus appropriations bill bundling all the bills together into one legislative behemoth
⢠Several minibus appropriations bills bundling several but not all of the bills together
⢠Although unlikely, two other options could be:
. Passage of each individual appropriations bill.
. Passage of a long-term Continuing Resolution
