(Updated 12/20/18) This legislation has been amended by the House to provide $5.7 billion in funding for border security and $7.8 billion in disaster relief. That’s in addition to serving as the legislative vehicle for a continuing resolution (CR) that would aim to prevent a partial government shutdown at midnight on Friday, December 21st by funding roughly one-fourth of the federal discretionary budget at current levels through February 8, 2019 (which was all the bill included when the Senate passed it on 12/19/18). In its original form, the bill was the House’s FY18 defense appropriations bill, but those provisions have been removed. A breakdown of the bill in its current form can be found below.
Specifically, the bill would provide funding for the seven FY2019 appropriations bills that haven’t yet been enacted, including:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies;
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies;
Financial Service and General Government;
Homeland Security;
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies;
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
The continuing resolution would also authorize several expiring programs (all of which have been covered by past CRs) through February 8, 2019, including:
The National Flood Insurance Program;
The Violence Against Women Act and related programs;
The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act;
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); and
Immigration-related extensions including EB-5, E-Verify, Conrad 30 program for international medical school graduates, programs Special Immigrant Religious Workers, and H2B returning worker authority for Homeland Security.
Further, the continuing resolution would provide an extension for several programs that haven’t been temporarily authorized by previous CRs, including:
Homeland Security programs under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act would be authorized through February 8th;
Two expiring provisions of the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act would be authorized through February 8th;
Two Medicaid programs — Medicaid Money-Follows-the-Person and Spousal Impoverishment — would be authorized through March 31, 2019 and their cost would be offset;
The Statutory Pay As You Go (PAYGO) scorecard balance would be debited to the following year.
House Amendment
The section of the bill would provide $5.7 billion in funding for border security (including $5 billion for the construction of a wall system) and $7.8 billion in disaster relief assistance through numerous federal programs.