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• U.S. Department of State

Summary

Traditionally, most of the operations of federal departments and agencies are funded each year through separate enactment of 13 regular appropriations acts. Since these measures expire at the end of the fiscal year, the regular appropriations bills for the subsequent fiscal year must be enacted by October 1. However, one or more regular appropriations bills are typically delayed beyond the deadline. When this occurs, the affected departments and agencies are generally funded under temporary continuing appropriations acts until the final funding decisions are enacted. Because continuing appropriations acts typically are enacted in the form of joint resolutions, such acts are referred to as continuing resolutions (or CRs). Over the last 30 years, the nature, scope, and duration of continuing resolutions gradually expanded and, then, generally diminished. From the early 1970s through 1987, continuing resolutions gradually expanded from interim funding measures of comparatively brief duration and length to measures providing funding through the end of the fiscal year. In many cases, the full-year measures included the full text of several regular appropriations bills and contained substantive legislation (i.e., provisions under the jurisdiction of committees other than the House and Senate Appropriations Committees). From 1988 through 2003, the nature, scope, and duration of continuing resolutions generally diminished into interim funding measures with little substantive legislation. Continuing resolutions generally can be divided into two categories -- those that provide interim (or temporary) funding and those that provide funds through the end of the fiscal year. Interim continuing resolutions provide funding until a specific date or until the enactment of the applicable regular appropriations acts. Full-year continuing resolutions provide continuing appropriations through the end of the fiscal year. Over the years, delay in the enactment of regular appropriations measures and continuing resolutions after the beginning of the fiscal year has led to periods during which appropriations authority has lapsed. Such periods generally are referred to as funding gaps. Since only four FY2005 regular appropriations bills have become law, Congress and the President have completed action on two FY2005 CRs (P.L. 108-309 and P.L. 108-416), which sequentially extend funding for the nine outstanding FY2005 regular appropriations bills from October 1, 2004, through December 3, 2004. Congress completed action on a third continuing resolution (H.J.Res. 115), which would extend funding through December 8, 2004. The President has not acted on the measure.

Related Legislation:
• H.J.RES.115

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