Congress averts shutdown

Money for Zika and opioid fight, PILT, flood relief make the short-term federal spending bill

President Obama signed a short-term spending measure, Sept. 29, that will keep the federal government working a little bit longer — at least through Dec. 9 — giving Congress 10 more weeks to pass a full funding budget for FY17.

The interim package includes several items important to counties, such as $1.1 billion in funding to combat the Zika virus and $7 million to help jumpstart implementation of the Comprehensive Opioid Addiction and Recovery Act. The bill also includes $500 million in flood relief to areas in Louisiana, West Virginia and Maryland, as well as full FY17 appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects.

The measure’s passage comes after months of impasse over FY17 appropriations as congressional leaders wrestled over numerous provisions, particularly over funding for the Flint, Mich. drinking water emergency and language that would have prevented Zika funds from going to Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Particularly important for counties, who are often on the front lines in responding to public health emergencies, the package provides $1.1 billion in emergency funding to combat the Zika virus. Approximately $400 million is specifically dedicated to help prevent and respond to the Zika virus, including compensating state and local public health departments for previous funding cuts and paying health care costs for those most affected by the virus. Another significant portion of the funding will go towards vaccine research.

The bill — formally, “continuing resolution,” or CR — notably did not include language that would have barred Zika funds from going to Planned Parenthood clinics; this had been one of the main obstacles to Congress reaching a deal since the president first requested $1.8 billion in February.

The administration has, been using money shifted from other accounts, including money that had been set aside for studying and fighting Ebola and for state-level emergency preparedness, to address Zika. Currently more than 23,000 people in the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico have contracted the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The continuing resolution will also provide approximately $7 million to support drug treatment and recovery programs through Dec. 9. Of that funding, about $3.84 million will go towards Department of Justice programs and about $3.27 million will go to the Department of Health and Human Services. The funding represents a portion of what was authorized through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA), signed into law July 22. CARA authorized government programs to combat the opioid and heroin crisis but did not actually appropriate any money to do so.

Additionally, $500 million in federal housing assistance was included in the CR to help parts of Louisiana, West Virginia and Maryland that have been devastated by recent floods. While some Democrats objected to this flood-relief funding unless the CR also contained funds for Flint, Mich., the measure was ultimately included after House leaders struck a deal to include funding for Flint in separate legislation, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016.

The CR also extends authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program through Dec. 9.

EB-5 was created by Congress to attract foreign investment and create jobs in the U.S. The program funds visas for foreigners who invest at least $500,000 to $1 million in approved U.S. businesses, for state and local economic development and job creation. NACo policy supports permanent authorization of the EB-5 program.

In addition to the above provisions, the CR also extends funding for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program for the duration of the CR. While this is far short of the necessary amount to fully fund PILT, it will allow the Department of Interior to begin the administrative process to determine PILT payments for FY17.

Despite this short-term success, there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding appropriations for FY17. With the 10-week CR out of the way, Congress has adjourned until after the Nov. 8 elections, leaving them with just about one month upon their return to complete the appropriations process and pass legislation by Dec. 9 that would fund the government through Sept. 30, 2017,  rest of the fiscal year.

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Brian Bowden, associate legislative director, also contributed to this report.