House Passes Stopgap Funding Measure; Senate Vote Expected Tuesday

On the night of September 22, 2020, nine days before the government was due to shut down, the House passed a stopgap funding measure through December 11, 2020. Members of the House passed the funding measure in a 359 to 57 vote. The bill includes an important measure prioritized by Republicans: $30 billion in farm aid.

The procedural vote scheduled to take place on the stopgap funding bill passed in the Senate on Thursday by 93 to 2. While the final vote is slated for Tuesday, September 29, this procedural vote is a promising sign that the bill will be passed and the government will not shut down.

A key feature of the continuing resolution (CR) is a new fee structure for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to help resolve financial challenges within the agency that almost left 13,400 employees furloughed this summer.  The CR allows USCIS to set and collect “premium fees,” which range between $1,500-2,500, for certain agency services.

Additionally, the bill prevents federal agencies from furloughing their employees due to financial distress. The bill reads, “Amounts made available under [the CR] for civilian personnel compensation and benefits in each department and agency may be apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to avoid furloughs within such department or agency.”

The CR also provides additional funding over FY 2020 levels to various agencies. For example, it includes funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that it may need to pursue its 10-year, multi-billion electronic health record modernization. It also includes $1.5 billion available to the Census Bureau.

Furthermore, both the General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) would receive an additional $9.9 million and $18 million, respectively, to support an upcoming presidential transition. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will be allowed to tap into trust funds it oversees to keep operations working.

Federal contractors are also afforded benefits in this CR. The bill includes an extension of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provision allowing agencies to keep their contractors in pay status if they cannot telework or enter their agency’s facilities due to the ongoing pandemic. This provision, set to expire on September 30th, would be extended to December 11th.

Now that the bill is heading to the Senate, it is likely that it will be passed because of the farm aid, which has been a sticking point in negotiations. The aid provides reimbursement for the Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said on the House floor regarding the deal, “We have an agreement that will keep the government functioning for the people. There was a lot of to and fro-ing, a lot of people wanted this, a lot of people wanted that, a lot of people didn’t want this... This is the best we have, so we need to take it.”