This week Congress returns to the Capitol after its August recess. Among the tasks for House and Senate consideration is the completion and approval of the FY 2011 appropriations bill by the end of the current fiscal year–September 30, 2010.
So far, the House has approved only two of the twelve appropriations subcommittee bills. The rest, including that for Labor, HHS, Ed, and Related Agencies, have yet to be approved by the full House Committee on Appropriations.
Appropriations bills in the Senate are in a similar state, with some marks still pending in their respective subcommittees and then pending full Committee approval. Unlike in the House, in the Senate, the Labor, HHS, Ed, and Related Agencies bill has passed the full Committee.
With the beginning of FY 2011 less than two weeks away and many appropriations bills still in subcommittee, it is extremely that instead of seeing the passage of a FY 2011 bill, we will see appropriators opt to adopt a continuing resolution (CR) which would maintain funding at the enacted FY 2010 level until the CR expired at a later date. If a continuing resolution is passed in lieu of an appropriations bill, it would likely be set to expire after November elections allowing the current Congress to complete other business prior to elections and let the new Congress take up the budget.
