Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2017 (H.R. 5325)

Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of the continuing appropriations provisions for FY2017 in H.R. 5325. The measure also included provisions covering appropriations in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill for all of FY2017 (Division A), as well as emergency funds to combat the Zika virus and provide relief for flood victims in Louisiana and other affected states (Division B). On September 29, 2016, the President signed H.R. 5325 into law (P.L. 114-223).

Division C of H.R. 5325 was termed a “continuing resolution” (CR) because measures to provide temporary authority for federal agencies and programs to continue spending are typically in the form of a joint resolution. It provides temporary funding in FY2017 for the programs and activities covered by the remaining 11 regular appropriations bills, since none of them had been enacted previously. These provisions provide continuing budget authority for projects and activities funded in FY2016 by that fiscal year’s regular appropriations acts, with some exceptions. It includes both budget authority that is subject to the statutory discretionary spending limits on defense and nondefense spending and also budget authority that is effectively exempt from those limits, such as that designated as for “Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism.”

Funding under the terms of the CR is effective October 1, 2016, through December 9, 2016—roughly the first 10 weeks of the fiscal year.

The CR generally provides budget authority for FY2017 for projects and activities at the rate at which they were funded during FY2016. Most projects and activities funded in the CR, however, are also subject to an across-the-board decrease of 0.496% (pursuant to Section 101(b) of Division C).

According to the cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the total amount of budget authority for the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations act—and the annualized budget authority for the other regular appropriations in the FY2017 CR that are subject to the statutory discretionary spending limits—totals approximately $1,067 billion. When spending that is effectively not subject to those limits (Overseas Contingency Operations, disaster relief, emergency requirements, and program integrity adjustments) is included in the CBO estimate, the total is $1,149 billion.

In addition to the general provisions that establish the coverage, duration, and rate of spending, CRs usually include provisions that are specific to certain agencies, accounts, or programs. These include provisions that designate exceptions to the formula and purpose for which any referenced funding is extended (referred to as “anomalies”) as well as provisions that have the effect of creating new law or changing existing law (often used to renew expiring provisions of law). The CR includes a number of such provisions, each of which is briefly summarized in this report. CRS appropriations process experts for each of these provisions are listed in Table 1.

For general information on the content of CRs and historical data on CRs enacted between FY1977 and FY2016, see CRS Report R42647, Continuing Resolutions: Overview of Components and Recent Practices, by James V. Saturno and Jessica Tollestrup.