Continuing Resolutions Aren’t Enough: Our Communities Can’t Wait

Last Updated February 7, 2022

Overview

Each fiscal year (FY), Congress passes appropriations bills to fund the government. The appropriations bills fund the discretionary portions of the federal budget, such as education, defense, and housing, among others. Before passing these bills, Congress must come to agreement on the overall spending level for the fiscal year, often referred to the “topline” spending level, and determine how to allocate that funding among the various agencies and programs. 

While the fiscal year ends on September 30, Congress often fails to pass all 12 annual appropriations bills before that deadline. In those instances, Congress has to pass a continuing resolution (CR), an interim stopgap spending bill, to keep the government running at current spending levels. Otherwise, the U.S. experiences a federal government shutdown. 

Currently, the government will exhaust federal funding on February 18, 2022, when the existing CR will expire. Before that deadline, Congress may consider passing a short-term or long-term CR to keep the government open past February 18. While a short-term CR would allow Congress extra weeks to reach an agreement on funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year, a full-year CR through October 1 would result in adopting funding levels enacted under the Trump administration and would remove an opportunity for Congress to increase long-stagnant spending for federal programs.