Congress Approves Short Term Funding Extension

Congress this week passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government until March 4 and President Obama promptly signed the bill. The CR was necessary because Congress failed to pass any of the 12 appropriation bills this year, and the government has been running on a series of short-term funding resolutions since Oct. 1. Senate Democrats tried to pass an omnibus appropriations measure that included all 12 spending bills for 2011 but failed to persuade Republicans to go along after conservatives complained about $8 billion in earmarks contained in the bill, the increases in personnel to implement health care and financial regulation reform measures passed this year, as well as overall funding levels. Republicans want an opportunity to cut 2011 discretionary program funding by as much as 20 percent -- bringing spending down to 2008 levels. The short term CR creates the opportunity for the new Congress to address spending levels when it convenes in January. Included in the CR is funding for federal construction programs and an extension of highway and transit program authorization to March 4. The highway and transit programs have been operating under a series of short term authorizations since SAFETEA-LU expired on September 30, 2009. These programs are also funded in the CR at FY 2010 levels. AGC and our transportation and construction industry allies have been pressing Congress to approve the highway and transit authorization through September 30, 2011, to provide states with certainty in funding through the end of the fiscal year and to allow the new Congress time to address a multiyear transportation authorization measure. In separate legislation, the programs and funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was approved through March 31. FAA also has been operating under a series of short term authorizations since its authorization legislation expired at the end of FY 2007. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.