Now that H.R. 2775 has passed, the US Government is back to work, for now. (The deal only funds the government until January 15, 2014 and only raises the debt ceiling until February 7, 2014, so Americans face the possibility of another government shutdown early next year.) But what does H.R. 2775 really mean? It means that the government may spend “such amounts as may be necessary, at a rate
for operations as provided in the applicable appropriations Acts
for fiscal year 2013 and under the authority and conditions provided
in such Acts, for continuing projects or activities (including the
costs of direct loans and loan guarantees) that are not otherwise
specifically provided for in this joint resolution, that were conducted
in fiscal year 2013, and for which appropriations, funds, or other
authority were made available in the following appropriations Acts.
And what was specifically provided for in the joint resolution that was H.R. 2775? Not much. While the bill is 14 pages, there are only 18 specific numbers specified. Specifically, in decreasing order of magnitude, it allocates the following 10 amounts:
$9.248418 B for the “Department of Transportation – Federal Aviation Administration – Operations”
$4.821181 B for “The Judiciary – Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and Other Judicial Services – Salaries and Expenses” (and at most 25M shall be available for transfer between accounts to maintain minimum operating levels)
$2.455490 B for the “Department of Veterans Affairs – Departmental Administration – General Operating Expenses Veterans Benefits Administration”
$1.012 B for “The Judiciary – Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and Other Judicial Services – Defender Services”
$600 M for the “Department of Agriculture – Forest Service – Wildland Fire Management” for urgent wild land fire suppression activities
$273 M to meet the terms of section 251(b)(2)(B)(ii)(III) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended. and $469.369 M in additional new budget authority pursuant to 251(b)(2)(B) of such act from the amounts made available for “Social Security Administration, Limitation on Administrative Expenses”
$186 M for the “Maritime Administration – Maritime Security Program”
$36 M for the “Department of the Interior – Department-wide Programs – Wildland Fire Management” for urgent wild land fire suppression activities (with $15 M earmarked for burned area rehabilitation)
$3.1 M for the “Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board”
$174 K payment to Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, widow of late New Jersey Senator Frank R. Lautenberg
And it sets the following three limits:
Amends Public Law 100-676 to $2.918 B from 775 M
Limits the amounts made available to carry out section 125 of title 23, United States Code, under Chapter 9 of Title X of Division A of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-2; 127 Stat. 34) to $450 M
Amends Division F of Public Law 112-74 to may retain up to $1.499M instead of $2.499 M
So what does this mean?
Given that it only (re)sets funding levels for about 0.5% of the annual budget (18B of 3.8T), it means its business as usual until the Republicans decide to holde the senate hostage again in January over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The real impact is the 17 days of Government shutdown that preceded it and the detrimental effects it had on your (global) supply chain(s).
