Senate and House Pass Continuing Resolution
Congress has passed FY 2013 appropriations legislation that will prevent a government shutdown. On Wednesday, the Senate passed its amended version of the House continuing resolution H.R. 933 (now titled the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act”) with a recorded vote of 73 to 26. This Senate bill would fund the federal government through September 30, 2013, the end of fiscal year 2013. The current CR expires on March 27. In a surprising show of bipartisan collaboration, the House of Representatives also passed the Senate amended CR with a recorded vote of 318 to 109 on Thursday. Now President Obama must sign it into law.
The original House CR contained two full bills for Defense, and for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) included these funding bills in their manager’s amendment to H.R. 933, plus three additional bills, including: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Homeland Security. It is important to note that, for the majority of programs,
the continuing resolution will maintain the sequester as a deficit reduction tool for FY 2013.
Rural Development programs did receive updated FY 2013 funding levels under the Agriculture bill of the CR. These amounts will be subject to sequestration. Furthermore,
the Agriculture bill also includes an additional 2.53 percent across-the-board cut to funding. The bill directs OMB to report back the amount of the recession required for programs subject to the 2.53 percent cut within 30 days of enactment.
FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations listed:
- Rural Rental Assistance Program: $907.1 million
- Multi-family Housing Revitalization Program: $27.8 million
- $17.8 million will be made available for a demonstration program in order to preserve and renovate existing multi-family properties.
- Of this sum, $10 million will be made available for rural housing vouchers for any low-income individuals/families residing in a Section 515 property
- Section 515: $31.3 million
- Section 538: $150 million
Unfortunately, the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill was not included in H.R.933. This means HUD will receive its funding under the CR. Except for very limited exceptions, HUD programs will be funded at FY 2012 levels.
The FY 2012 levels for HUD programs:
- Project-Based Section 8 Program: $9.34 billion total
- Contract Renewals: $9.04 billion
- Housing Choice Voucher Program: $18.9 billion
- Contract Renewals: $17.2 billion
- HOME: $1 billion
- Community Development Block Grants: $2.95 billion
- Section 202: $375 million
- Section 811: $165 million
- Limited English Proficiency: $300,000
Update on Coburn and Begich Amendments
During the Senate debate, two noteworthy amendments were proposed to CR. The amendment from Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John McCain (R-AZ), S.A. 67, would have limited federal agencies to sending no more than 25 employees to any domestic meeting- including private and government sponsored conferences. Fortunately, this amendment was not included in H.R. 933. Instead the CR contains new oversight provisions for conferences held by any Executive branch department, agency, etc. Agencies will have to report certain information to their Inspector General for conferences held by the agencies which exceed certain spending thresholds.
NAHMA would like to thank members who contacted their Senators and voiced opposition to this amendment. We will notify members if any future legislation threatens the advocacy process of associations. Unfortunately, the amendment introduced by Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) that would have increased the multifamily and healthcare facility lending commitment authority of the FHA by $5 billion was not included in the CR. NAHMA will inform members if Senator Begich introduces similar legislation in the future.
