Congress Passes Third Short-Term Funding Bill through March 11
Mary Scott Balys
On February 18, President Biden signed another short-term continuing resolution to fund the federal government through March 11. This is the third continuing resolution that Congress has passed since the current fiscal year began on October 1, 2021. The continuing resolution will maintain Fiscal Year 2021 funding levels while Congress continues their work on the annual appropriations bills.
Congressional negotiators are optimistic they will be able to agree on final funding levels for Fiscal Year 2022 by the new March 11 deadline, however significant work remains before they can come to a final agreement. There are also several other high-priority issues that Congress is working to address at this time, including the situation in Ukraine, filling a Supreme Court vacancy, and the President’s State of the Union address scheduled for March 1.
Earlier this year, House and Senate appropriators released their Financial Services and General Government funding bills for FY 2022 appropriations. The House-passed FSGG bill provides $330 million for the CDFI Fund while the Senate bill recommends $360 million.
OFN will continue to monitor the status of the appropriations process and advocate for Congress to adopt the Senate-recommended funding level of $360 million.