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Senate Amendment to H.R. 5325, Fiscal Year 2017 Continuing Resolution

Floor Situation

On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, the House will likely consider the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5325, the Fiscal Year 2017 Continuing Resolution, under a closed rule.  The Senate amended the House-passed version of H.R. 5325, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2017, with an amendment to provide temporary fiscal year 2016 appropriations through December 9, 2016.  The Senate then passed the amended version of the bill on September 28, 2016. 

Summary              

The Senate amendment to H.R. 5325 funds discretionary government operations through December 8, 2015, at the rate they were funded in fiscal year 2016, minus an across-the-board reduction of 0.496 percent.  In addition, the legislation includes the text of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act as passed by the House on June 23, 2016 through the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Zika Response Appropriations Act final Conference Report (House Report 114-640).  Finally, H.R. 5325 includes supplemental appropriations for Zika prevention and response. Specific provisions provided by the Committee on Appropriations are included below. A section-by-section can be found here.

Continuing Resolution

  • Funds government operations at $1.067 trillion, the same as FY16;
  • Contains an additional $17 million to HHS and $20 million to DoJ in funding to fight the opioid epidemic and begin carrying out the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016;
  • Continues a provision that stops an Obama Administration SEC rule that would force all publicly traded corporations to disclose their political contributions; and
  • Provides an additional $500 million in grants to states affected by recent flooding.

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

  • Totals $82.5 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion above current levels;
  • Provides $74.4 billion in funding for the VA, $2.9 billion above FY16 levels, including funding for medical services ($52.8 billion), an increase to address the backlog of disability claims ($156 million), and funds to support the modernization of the electronic health record ($260 million);
  • Sustains quality housing for 1.3 million military families;
  • Includes funding to care for 9.8 million troops and families at military medical facilities;
  • Funds the American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home;
  • Prohibits the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the construction of any facilities to house detainees in the U.S. or its territories; and
  • Improves oversight at the VA to address mismanagement, stop waste, and better serve our veterans, as well as add new whistleblower protections.

Zika Response and Prevention

  • Provides a total of $1.1 billion to stop the spread of Zika, $400 million of which is offset;
  • Targets funding for mosquito control, response, and readiness in high-risk states/territories ($394 million);
  • Funds vaccines and diagnostic test research to ensure they are available to the public quickly and safely ($397 million);
  • Supports  health care for mothers, children, and others experiencing complications in areas with the highest rates of transmission ($75 million);
  • Implements strong oversight, including funds for the Inspectors General of HHS and UASAID ($1 million);
  • Provides funding to diplomatic and consular programs as well as emergencies in the diplomatic and consular service ($15.6 million);
  • Enables financing in repatriation loans to U.S. citizens in Zika-affected areas ($1 million);
  • Supports the Global Health Programs efforts to reduce the transmission of Zika ($145.5 million); and
  • Maintains the Hyde amendment and reiterates strong protections against the use of this funding for abortions.

H.R. 5325 enumerates a limited number of exceptions to the purposes, amount of funds, or other authorities that would be made available through its regular formula. Such exceptions are referred to as "anomalies."  A full list can be found here.

The $400 million in specific rescissions come from accounts including ACA exchange funds for U.S. territories, unused Ebola funds, Economic Development Administration assistance programs, Department of Homeland Security management, salaries, and construction accounts, as well as State Department and Transportation program accounts.

Background

Both the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations have reported all 12 annual appropriations bills.   The House has considered and passed five of these—the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 4974); the Legislative Branch appropriations bill (H.R. 5325); the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill (H.R. 5293); the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 5538); and the Department of Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5293).  The Senate has not acted on any of these measures.  Consequently, without action, funding for discretionary government operations expires on October 1, 2016. 

Cost

The Congressional Budget Office estimates enacting the Senate amendment would result in $1.150 trillion in discretionary spending. This includes $1.067 trillion in base discretionary appropriations subject to statutory spending caps and $84.112 billion in discretionary spending exempt from spending caps, including $59.372 billion for Defense Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), $14.896 billion for Non-Defense OCO, $6.713 billion for the Disaster Relief category, $1.523 billion for Program Integrity, $1.108 billion for Zika response, and $500 million for disaster relief for flood response in 2016.

Staff Contact

For questions or further information please contact Jake Vreeburg with the House Republican Policy Committee by email or at 5-0190.

114th Congress