On December 8, President Trump signed into law a two-week continuing resolution (CR) (H.J. Res. 123) that will fund the federal government through December 22, 2017 and avoid a government shutdown.
Congressional appropriators have already indicated that they plan to pass another temporary funding measure to run from December 22, 2017 through early 2018, at which point lawmakers plan to advance an omnibus FY 2018 package containing all 12 spending bills. The final omnibus deal could include several controversial policy riders, though no final decision has been made.
Some of these riders may include proposals to reinsure health insurance providers and address the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries, or “dreamers.” Other riders likely to be attached to the funding measure include congressional priorities such as the addition of disaster aid funds totaling $44 billion, and reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program.
An omnibus budget deal will require bipartisan agreement to be successful, with at least 60 votes in the U.S. Senate. However, Senate Democrats and Republicans remain divided over key issues, including how to address spending caps and ease automatic cuts to federal programs imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25). Additionally, both parties have yet to reach agreement over whether an increase in defense spending should be matched by an equal increase in non-defense spending.
NACo will continue working with congressional appropriators to ensure county priorities are supported in any CR and final omnibus spending package.
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