Overview of the FY2016 Continuing Resolution (H.R. 719) 
Released: 2015-10-01T00:00:00

Introduction

Congress uses an annual appropriations process to fund discretionary spending, which supports the projects and activities of most federal government agencies. This process anticipates the enactment of 12 regular appropriations bills each fiscal year. If regular appropriations are not enacted by the start of the fiscal year (October 1), continuing appropriations may be used to provide temporary funding until the annual appropriations process is concluded. Continuing appropriations acts are often referred to as "continuing resolutions" or "CRs." CRs may be enacted for a period of days, weeks, or months. If all 12 regular appropriations bills are not enacted by the time that the first CR for a fiscal year expires, further extensions of that CR might be enacted until all regular appropriations bills have been completed or the fiscal year ends.

None of the FY2016 regular appropriations bills was enacted by the start of the fiscal year (October 1, 2015). H.R. 719 , a CR for FY2016, was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by the President on September 30, 2015 ( P.L. 114-53 ). This CR provides funds for covered projects and activities from the beginning of the fiscal year, October 1, 2015, through December 11, 2015.

The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of the continuing appropriations in H.R. 719 . The first two sections summarize the overall funding provided (" Coverage, Duration, and Rate ") and budget enforcement issues associated with the statutory discretionary spending limits (" The CR and the Statutory Discretionary Spending Limits "). The third section of this report provides short summaries of the provisions in this CR that are agency-, account-, or program-specific. These summaries are organized by appropriations act title. In some instances, additional information about those appropriations and how they operate under a CR is provided.

For general information on the content of CRs and historical data on CRs enacted between FY1977 and FY2015, see CRS Report R42647, Continuing Resolutions: Overview of Components and Recent Practices , by [author name scrubbed].

For information on the FY2016 appropriations process, see CRS Report R44062, Congressional Action on FY2016 Appropriations Measures , by [author name scrubbed].

Coverage, Duration, and Rate

This section of the report discusses the three components of a CR that generally establish the purpose, duration, and amount of funds provided by the act:

A CR's "coverage" relates to the purposes for which funds are provided. The projects and activities funded by a CR are typically specified with reference to regular (and, occasionally, supplemental) appropriations acts from the previous fiscal year. When a CR refers to one of those appropriations acts and provides funds for the projects and activities included in such an act, the CR is often referred to as "covering" that act. The "duration" of a CR refers to the period of time for which budget authority is provided for covered activities. CRs usually fund projects and activities using a "rate for operations" or "funding rate" to provide budget authority at a restricted level, but do not prescribe a specified amount. The funding rate for a project or activity is based on the total amount of budget authority that would be available annually for that project or activity under the referenced appropriations acts, and is pro-rated based on the fraction of a year for which the CR is in effect.

Coverage

The CR for FY2016 covers all 12 regular appropriations bills by providing continuing budget authority for projects and activities funded in FY2015 by that fiscal year's regular appropriations acts—Divisions A-K of the FY2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, P.L. 113-235 , with some exceptions ; and Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015, P.L. 114-4 .

Statutory limits on discretionary spending are in effect for FY2016, as established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25 ). The CR includes both budget authority that is subject to those limits and also budget authority that is effectively exempt from those limits. Budget authority that is effectively exempt includes that which is designated or otherwise provided as "Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism" (OCO/GWOT), "continuing disability reviews and redeterminations," "health care fraud and abuse control," "disaster relief," and "emergency requirements."

Budget authority is provided by the CR under the same terms and conditions as the referenced FY2015 appropriations acts. Effectively, this requirement extends many of the provisions in the FY2015 acts that stipulated or limited agency authorities during FY2015. In addition, in general none of the funds are to be used to initiate or resume an activity for which budget authority was not available in FY2015. A goal of these and similar provisions in other CRs, as well as many of the other provisions discussed in the sections below, is to protect Congress's constitutional authority to provide annual funding in the manner it chooses in whatever final appropriations measures are enacted.

Duration

Funding in the CR is effective October 1, 2015, through December 11, 2015—about the first 10 weeks of the fiscal year. The CR provides that, in general, budget authority for some or all projects and activities could be superseded by the enactment of the applicable regular appropriations act or another CR prior to or on December 11. For projects and activities funded in the CR that a subsequent appropriations act does not fund, budget authority would immediately cease upon such enactment, even if prior to December 11.

Rate

The CR provides budget authority for projects and activities funded in the FY2015 appropriations acts covered by the CR, at a rate based on the amount of funding provided in those acts and the duration of the CR (through December 11). The rate is the net of any provisions reducing FY2015 budget authority that were included in those acts. For entitlement and other mandatory spending that is funded through appropriations acts, the CR provides funding to maintain program levels under current law.

Most projects and activities funded in the CR are subject to an across-the-board decrease of less than 1% (0.2108%). This decrease does not apply to appropriations designated or otherwise provided as OCO/GWOT, continuing disability reviews and redeterminations, health care fraud and abuse control, disaster relief, and emergency requirements. It does apply, however, to advance appropriations enacted in previous fiscal years that first became available in FY2016.

The CR and the Statutory Discretionary Spending Limits

Background

Appropriations for FY2016 are subject to statutory discretionary spending limits on "defense" and "nondefense" spending pursuant to the BCA. The defense category includes all discretionary spending under budget function 050 (defense); the nondefense category includes discretionary spending in the other budget functions. If discretionary spending is enacted in excess of a statutory limit in either category, the BCA requires the level of spending to be brought into conformance through "sequestration," which involves primarily across-the-board cuts to non-exempt spending in the category of the limit that was breached (i.e., defense or nondefense). Once discretionary spending is enacted, OMB evaluates that spending relative to the spending limits and determines whether sequestration is necessary. For FY2016 discretionary spending, the first such evaluation (and any necessary enforcement) is to occur within 15 calendar days after the 2015 congressional session adjourns sine die. For any FY2016 discretionary spending that becomes law after the session ends, the OMB evaluation and any enforcement of the limits would occur 15 days after enactment.

FY2016 CR

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the budgetary effects of interim CRs on an "annualized" basis, meaning that those effects are measured as if the CR were providing budget authority for an entire fiscal year. According to CBO, the total amount of annualized budget authority for regular appropriations in the CR that is subject to the BCA limits (including projects and activities funded at the rate for operations and anomalies) is $1,016.582 billion. Although that total is equal to the combined amount of the statutory discretionary spending limits for FY2016, the CR is estimated to exceed one of those two limits. While CBO estimates defense spending in the CR to total $520.385 billion, which is about $2.7 billion below the defense limit, nondefense spending is estimated to total $496.197 billion, which is about $2.7 billion above the defense limit. As was previously mentioned, however, the earliest that the statutory discretionary spending limits could be enforced is 15 days after the end of the congressional session. This date is likely to occur after the expiration of the CR on December 11, 2015.

When spending is included in the CBO estimate that is effectively not subject to those limits—because it was designated or otherwise provided as OCO/GWOT, continuing disability reviews and redeterminations, health care fraud and abuse control, disaster relief, and emergency requirements—the total amount of annualized budget authority in the CR is $1,099.962 billion.

Agency, Account, and Program-Specific Provisions

In addition to the general provisions that establish the coverage, duration, and rate, CRs usually include provisions that are specific to certain agencies, accounts, or programs. These provisions are generally of two types. First, certain provisions designate exceptions to the formula and purpose for which any referenced funding is extended. These are often referred to as "anomalies." The purpose of anomalies is to preserve Congress's constitutional prerogative to provide appropriations in the manner it sees fit, even in instances when only short-term funding is provided. Second, certain provisions may have the effect of creating new law or changing existing law. Most typically, these provisions are used to renew expiring provisions of law or extend the scope of certain existing statutory requirements to the funds provided in the CR. Substantive provisions that establish major new policies have also been included on occasion. Unless otherwise indicated, such provisions are temporary in nature and expire when the CR sunsets.

These anomalies and provisions that change law may be included at the request of the President. Congress could accept, reject, or modify these proposals in the course of drafting and considering appropriations measures that provide continuing appropriations. In addition, Congress may identify other anomalies and provisions changing law for inclusion in the CR.

This section of the report summarizes provisions in this CR that are agency-, account-, or program-specific, alphabetically organized by appropriations act title. The summaries generally provide brief explanations of the provisions. In some cases they include additional information, such as whether a provision was requested by the President or included in prior year CRs. It also addresses CR-specific issues for the activities funded by these appropriations acts related to advance appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs and foreign military financing aid to Israel. For additional information on specific provisions in the CR, contact the CRS appropriations experts listed in Table 1 at the end of the report.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

Section 116—Commodity Assistance Program33

For the duration of the CR, Section 116 increases funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a domestic food assistance program that predominantly serves the low-income elderly. Instead of basing funding for the program on the FY2015 funding level ($212 million), this CR provision would use a base of approximately $221 million. This anomaly is typically included to maintain current caseload and participation while accounting for increased food costs.

Section 117—Rural Housing35

This provision has two parts. The first part was reportedly requested by the President for inclusion in the CR, and it would permit OMB to apportion funding to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service (RHS) for the Rural Rental Assistance program at a higher rate than would normally be permitted under the standard terms of the CR described earlier in this report. (See " Coverage, Duration, and Rate .") The President's request stated that this authority is needed because rental assistance contract renewal costs are expected to be significantly higher in FY2016 than in FY2015 and because the timing of renewals has shifted such that a large share occur in the first few months of the fiscal year, requiring a higher rate of spending in the first quarter.

The second part of the provision does not appear to have been requested by the President for inclusion in the CR. It would authorize the Secretary to waive a provision of the FY2015 appropriations law that prohibits RHS from renewing rental assistance contracts before the expiration of a 12-month period. This "re-renewal" prohibition was included in the President's FY2015 budget request, and again in the FY2016 budget request, as part of a suite of cost-cutting measures. Rural housing advocates have lobbied for a repeal of the re-renewal prohibition, arguing it has caused funding shortages for some properties which, they contend, puts those properties at risk of loss to the affordable housing stock. The provision included in the CR would not repeal the prohibition but would instead provide the Secretary of Agriculture with the discretion to waive the prohibition for the duration of the CR.

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Section 118—National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration38

Section 118 would allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to apportion the procurement, acquisition, and construction account up to the rate necessary to maintain the planned launch schedules for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). This would provide NOAA with flexibility that may be needed to maintain JPSS launch schedules.

Previous CRs have included provisions similar to Section 118. Previous provisions provided flexibility to NOAA for maintaining launch schedules of JPSS and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite System. Section 118 applies only to JPSS.

Polar-orbiting satellites constantly circle the earth in a north-south orbit and provide the primary inputs for weather prediction models. JPSS has a history of development challenges, cost overruns, and delays. JPSS is scheduled to replace current coverage with the launch of JPSS-1 in 2017 and JPSS-2 in 2021. An ongoing concern is the potential gap in satellite coverage before JPSS becomes operational, as the current satellite is near the end of its design life. JPSS is designed to provide global environmental data such as cloud imagery, sea surface temperature, atmospheric profiles of temperature and moisture, atmospheric ozone concentrations, Arctic sea ice monitoring, and search and rescue.

Section 119—U.S. Marshals Service (USMS)42

For FY2015, a total of $1.595 billion in appropriations was enacted for the USMS's Federal Prisoner Detention (FPD) account. However, $1.1 billion of the total provided for the account was derived from unobligated balances from the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Assets Forfeiture Fund (AFF). For the duration of the CR, Section 119 would end the required transfer of $1.1 billion of unobligated balances from the AFF to the FPD account, and it would also suspend a limitation on the transfer of unobligated balances from the AFF to the FPD account that are in excess of the required $1.1 billion transfer. In effect, this section would fund federal prisoner detention operations for the duration of the CR by allowing DOJ to transfer unobligated balances from the AFF to the FPD account.

Reportedly, the Administration requested that Congress not supplement funding for the FPD account with unobligated balance transfers from the AFF. The Administration also requested an anomaly that would allow the USMS to obligate funds from the FPD account at a rate equal to $1.454 billion. The Administration reported that the AFF does not currently project excess unobligated balances, so the FPD account needs additional new resources from a source other than the AFF to cover operational expenses related to prisoner detention. In other words, the Administration stated that without the requested anomaly, the USMS will not be able to cover projected detention costs, and the AFF will be required to deplete its carry-over balances and reduce programmatic expenses.

Section 120—National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)49

This provision would extend the availability of previously appropriated funds for closeout of NASA's space shuttle program. The last flight of a space shuttle was in July 2011. Closeout funds for the program have been appropriated and obligated but have not yet been fully expended. Without this extension, OMB estimates that approximately $68 million could not be expended after September 30, 2015, making it unavailable to cover remaining obligations for closeout costs.

Section 121—National Telecommunications and Information Administration51

Section 121 would allow uncompleted Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) projects to continue to expend obligated funds through FY2020. Under current law, funds obligated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5 ) for this program are no longer available to be expended after September 30, 2015. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration administers the ARRA BTOP grants.

Specific concerns have been raised in Congress over the completion of BTOP public safety grant projects, which are funding the construction of interoperable communications networks for first responders. The BTOP public safety grant projects were partially suspended after passage of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( P.L. 112-96 ), which authorized and funded a national public safety broadband network (called FirstNet). They were suspended pending spectrum leasing agreements between each project and FirstNet. BTOP public safety projects that reached an agreement with FirstNet were eventually resumed, but some are not able to be completed before the deadline of September 30, 2015.

Department of Defense

Section 102—Prohibition on Increasing Production Rates53

Section 102, which is typically included in interim CRs, would prohibit the Department of Defense from accelerating the rate at which it is acquiring any major procurement item, which includes any type of ship, plane, missile, or ground vehicle. This would have the effect of barring production rate increases for several types of weapons that are incorporated into the Administration's FY2016 DOD budget request. Among the programs that would be affected are production of C-130J cargo planes (slated to increase from 14 aircraft in FY2015 to 29 in FY2016), remanufacture (with upgrades) of the Army's Apache attack helicopter (slated to increase from 35 helicopters rebuilt in FY2015 to 64 in FY2016), and the Navy's T-AO mid-ocean refueling tanker, the first of which is requested in the FY2016 budget.

Section 122—Authorization Extensions

This section would extend authorizations for the duration of the CR that would otherwise expire at the end of FY2015 for two programs. These programs have been authorized routinely on a year-by-year basis through the National Defense Authorization Act:

The Office of Security Cooperation with Iraq, originally established by Section 1215(f)(1) of P.L. 112-81 , the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act; and A program to pay cash rewards of up to $5 million to persons assisting U.S. forces in counterterrorism operations, originally established by Section 1065(a) of P.L. 107-314 , the FY2003 Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act.

Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies

Section 123—Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund54

Section 123 would authorize the Department of Energy (DOE) to apportion funding for the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund through December 11, 2015, up to the rate for operations that would be necessary to avoid disruption of continuing projects or activities. This account primarily funds the decommissioning and environmental remediation of three federal uranium enrichment facilities in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. DOE would be required to notify the House and Senate Appropriations Committees within three days after each use of this authority. This provision is similar to Section 122 of the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 ( P.L. 113-164 ).

Financial Services and General Government

Section 124—District of Columbia Local Funds55

This section provides the authority for the District of Columbia to expend local funds (from local tax revenues and other non-federal sources) for programs and activities funded in FY2015 at the rate set forth in the DC FY2016 Budget Request Act of 2015.

Section 125—Recovery Board57

Section 125 provides that no funds are included in the CR for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which was established by ARRA to provide oversight and transparency in the expenditure of ARRA funds. The board was funded through the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill for the first time in FY2012. Since then, the board was funded by now exhausted ARRA appropriations. The board received appropriations of $20 million for FY2014 and $18 million for FY2015 but is slated to sunset on September 30, 2015. Neither the House ( H.R. 2995 ) nor the Senate ( S. 1910 ) FY2016 FSGG appropriations bills contains funding for the board.

Section 126—Small Business Administration58

This provision authorizes the apportionment of appropriations that are provided by the CR up to the rate that is necessary to allow the Small Business Administration (SBA) to continue issuing general business loans under the 7(a) loan guaranty program if "increased demand for commitments" exceeds the program's fiscal year authorization ceiling, which is currently $23.5 billion. On July 23, 2015, for just the second time since the agency began operations in 1953, the SBA suspended the consideration of 7(a) loan guaranty program applications because the demand for 7(a) loans was projected to exceed the program's then-$18.75 billion FY2015 authorization ceiling. The SBA resumed issuing 7(a) loans on July 28, 2015, following enactment of P.L. 114-38 , the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015, which increased the 7(a) loan guaranty program's FY2015 authorization ceiling to $23.5 billion. Previous CRs had increased the 7(a) loan program's authorization ceiling to a specified amount to reduce the likelihood that the demand for commitments would exceed the ceiling. For example, P.L. 113-164 , the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015, increased the ceiling from $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion, and P.L. 113-235 , the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, increased the ceiling to $18.75 billion. This appears to be the first time that a CR anomaly has not specified a ceiling amount.

Section 127—Internet Tax Freedom Act60

Section 127 extends a moratorium preventing state and local governments from taxing Internet access or imposing multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce, originally enacted as the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA; P.L. 105-277 , Title IX) in 1998. The act included a grandfather clause allowing state and local governments to continue taxing Internet access, provided the tax had been imposed and enforced before October 1, 1998. Under the moratorium, state and local governments cannot impose their sales taxes on the monthly payments that consumers make to their Internet service providers. The 113 th Congress enacted multiple extensions of ITFA. The Internet tax moratorium and grandfather clause were set to expire on November 1, 2014, but were extended through December 11, 2014, as part of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 ( P.L. 113-46 ). The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( P.L. 113-235 ) extended these provisions through September 30, 2015.

Department of Homeland Security

Sections 129-133—Extension of Specialized Procurement Authority and Certain Visa Programs62

The provisions in the CR that pertain to the activities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extend specialized procurement authority and certain visa programs through the expiration date of the CR. These are solely extensions—no changes are made or policy direction provided. The Administration reportedly requested four of the five provisions and indicated it has no objection to the fifth.

Section 129 of the CR extends special procurement authorities for leading edge research and development activities at DHS, known as "other transaction authority." This provision, requested by the Administration, has been carried in many CRs covering DHS, including most recently the FY2015 CR, P.L. 113-164 .

The following provisions were all carried in the CR for FY2010 (Division B of P.L. 111-68 ) but in no CRs since FY2010 until FY2016:

Section 130, which continues the authorization for the E-Verify employment eligibility verification program to operate, Section 131, which extends the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, Section 132, which extends the nonminister religious worker visa program, and Section 133, which extends a program to provide visas for doctors who serve in rural areas of the United States.

Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

Section 134—Recreation Fee Authority66

This provision extends, through September 30, 2017, the authority in the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act for five agencies to establish, collect, and retain recreation fees on federal recreational lands and waters. The five agencies are the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service—all in the Department of the Interior (DOI)—and the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture. In FY2014, the agencies collected a total of $278.6 million in recreation fees under the program. Each agency can retain and spend the collected fees without further appropriation. Most of the monies are retained at the site where collected for on-site improvements to benefit visitors. The current authority of the agencies, which would expire on September 30, 2016, was provided in P.L. 113-235 (Division F, Title IV, §422).

Section 135—Forest Service Wildland Fire Management69

Section 135 would provide the Forest Service with an additional $700 million for FY2016 for "urgent" wildland fire suppression activities. The agency would also be able to use the $700 million to repay amounts transferred from other accounts to pay for suppression activities. These monies would be available to the Forest Service only (1) if the funds previously provided for wildfire suppression would be "imminently" exhausted, and (2) upon notification to the Appropriations Committees. Section 135 would also designate the funding as an emergency requirement, effectively exempting it from certain budget rules, such as the statutory discretionary spending caps.

Section 136—Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Pay Authority72

This provision extends, through the duration of the CR, the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to establish higher minimum rates of pay for certain DOI employees working on onshore and offshore energy development, namely those in specified engineering, geophysicist, and geologist job series. The intent is to foster hiring and retention of these highly skilled employees at several DOI agencies. DOI's high turnover rates in oil and gas inspection and engineering positions have been found by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be high risks to the federal government, challenging DOI's ability to meet its oil and gas oversight responsibilities and "potentially placing both the environment and royalties at risk." GAO determined that the recruitment and retention problems are largely due to lower salaries and a slow hiring process compared with similar positions in industry. The current authority of the Secretary to raise the minimum pay rates, which would expire on September 30, 2015, was provided in P.L. 113-76 (§§117 and 123).

Section 137—Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission75

Section 137 contains two provisions related to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. First, Section 137 would extend, through December 11, 2015, the Eisenhower Memorial Commission's authorization to establish a "permanent" memorial to President Eisenhower in the District of Columbia. Without the extension, the commission's authority to establish the Eisenhower Memorial would expire on September 30, 2015 (under P.L. 113-235 , Division F, Title IV, §423(a)).

Second, Section 137 would continue, through December 11, 2015, to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing a construction permit to build the Eisenhower Memorial until 100% of the funds are raised. Without the extension, the prohibition would expire on September 30, 2015 (under P.L. 113-235 , Division F, Title IV, §423(b)). The prohibition was initially included in P.L. 113-46 (§138). Prior to this prohibition, the commission had been granted the ability to request a construction permit prior to collecting 100% of the funds necessary to complete the memorial.

Section 138—Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT)79

The PILT program compensates local governments for the presence of federally owned land. A provision of P.L. 113-291 (§3096) provided $70 million in mandatory spending for PILT. Of this amount, $33 million was made available in FY2015. The remaining $37 million will be made available after the start of FY2016 on October 1, 2015, leaving some doubt as to whether the amount should be considered a late payment for FY2015 or an early payment for FY2016. Section 138 clarifies that the $37 million is to be applied to the FY2015 payment cycle. In addition, P.L. 113-235 (§11) provided $372 million in discretionary spending for FY2015. The FY2015 total PILT appropriation of $442 million represents 97.8% of the full formula amount.

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies

Section 139—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)81

Section 139 would allow CDC to use previously appropriated funds to continue construction of a replacement freezer building on its Fort Collins, Colorado, campus in order to meet construction deadlines. (This provision is also proposed as FY2016 appropriations language in the agency's budget justification. )

Section 140—Highly Qualified Teachers (HQT)84

Section 140 would extend the HQT provision enacted in Section 163(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 ( P.L. 111-242 ), as amended by the Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011 ( P.L. 111-322 ), through the 2016-2017 school year.

States that receive funds under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act ( P.L. 107-110 ), must ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects meet the definition of an HQT. The definition in law requires teachers to be fully certified. Regulations adopted in December 2002 expanded the HQT definition to include teachers participating in alternative certification programs who have not yet become fully certified. P.L. 111-322 referenced this definition and stipulated that it be in effect only until the end of the 2012-2013 school year; P.L. 112-175 provided an extension through 2013-2014, and P.L. 113-46 extended the provision through 2015-2016.

Section 141—State Children's Health Insurance Program85

Section 141 would rescind $1.7 billion from the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Child Enrollment Contingency Fund. The rescinded funds include some funding from the initial deposit into the contingency fund ($2.1 billion in FY2009) and the interest accrued to the fund. In addition to the initial deposit, for FY2010 through FY2017, the fund can receive deposits of such sums as are necessary for making contingency payments to eligible states. Previously, multiple appropriations laws rescinded a total of $24.3 billion from the CHIP performance bonus payments fund from FY2011 through FY2015, which is a different account than CHIP Child Enrollment Contingency Fund.

Section 142—National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity86

Section 142 would extend the duration of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) through December 11, 2015. NACIQI is a committee tasked with assessing the process of accreditation in higher education and the institutional eligibility and certification of institutions of higher education to participate in federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Currently, Section 114(f) of the act provides that NACIQI shall terminate on September 30, 2015.

Section 422 the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) generally provides an automatic one-year extension of the authorization of appropriations for, or the duration of, programs administered by the Department of Education. This automatic extension would occur only if Congress—in the regular session that ends prior to the beginning of the terminal fiscal year of authorization or duration of an applicable program—does not pass legislation extending the program. However, GEPA Section 422 explicitly states that the automatic one-year extension does not apply to the authorization of appropriations for, or the duration of, committees that are required by statute to terminate on a specific date. Thus, the automatic one-year extension does not apply to NACIQI, and NACIQI would terminate on September 30, 2015, unless it is extended. Previously, NACIQI was set to terminate on September 1, 2014. However, on September 26, 2014, Congress extended its operation for an additional fiscal year through September 30, 2015, under P.L. 113-174 .

Legislative Branch

Section 143—Gratuity Payment90

Section 143 provides one gratuity payment to the widow of a deceased Member of the House. This language had previously been included in the House-passed and Senate committee-reported versions of H.R. 2250 , the FY2016 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill.

A gratuity equal to one year's salary has long been given to the heirs of Members of Congress who die in office. The payment is generally included in the next legislative branch, supplemental, or continuing appropriations act following the death.

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Section 144—Denver Replacement Medical Center92

This section of the CR would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transfer up to $625 million from unobligated balances in FY2015 and FY2016 advance appropriations discretionary accounts to the Construction Major Projects account to fund the Denver Replacement Medical Center construction project. The section contains conditions for this authority, such as the written approval of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Section 145—Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Under Section 145, the VA is allowed to obligate funding in its general operating expenses account for VBA under the CR formula at a rate for operations of $2.7 billion to maintain necessary staffing levels, overtime pay, and information technology required to support disability claims processing and other veterans services provided by VBA. The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( P.L. 113-235 ) provided approximately $2.5 billion for the VBA General Operating Expenses account for FY2015.

Section 146—Rescission and Reappropriation

Section 146 would rescind certain amounts from FY2014 medical accounts (medical services, medical support and compliance, and medical facilities), which became available on October 1, 2013, and re-appropriates it to those same accounts to be available for two fiscal years.

Other Related Issues—Budget Year and Advance Appropriations

The VA is funded through a combination of budget year and advance appropriations. For FY2015, P.L. 113-235 provided approximately $159.1 billion for veterans' benefits and services. This included approximately $94.3 billion for veterans' benefits—such as disability compensation, pensions, and readjustment benefits—and $56.4 billion for the programs of the Veterans Health Administration, which includes medical care for veterans and medical and prosthetic research. Furthermore, P.L. 113-235 provided $58.6 billion in advance FY2016 appropriations for the medical services, medical support and compliance, and medical facilities accounts, which would be available on October 1, 2015.

As previously mentioned, the CR's general rate for operations would fund most VA programs through a formula using the FY2015 level of appropriations minus an across-the-board rescission of 0.2108%. Section 115 of the CR would require that this same percentage reduction be applied to rescind funds from the FY2016 advanced appropriated accounts.

Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

Section 147—Commission on International Religious Freedom94

Section 147 extends the termination date of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. It would otherwise expire on September 30, 2015. A similar provision in the FY2015 CR ( P.L. 113-164 ) extended the commission's termination date to September 30, 2014; P.L. 113-271 further extended the date to September 30, 2015.

Section 148—Assistance to Ukraine95

Section 148 provides that funds from specified international affairs accounts may be obligated at the rate necessary to sustain assistance to Ukraine, including international broadcasting, economic, and security assistance. Section 148 is limited to Ukraine, whereas a similar provision (Section 145) included in the FY2015 CR ( P.L. 113-164 ) also referenced "independent states of the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe."

Section 149—U.S. Commission on Public Diplomacy96

Pursuant to current law, authority for the U.S. Commission on Public Diplomacy ends October 1, 2015, and the commission would cease to exist and operate on that date. Section 149 would extend the authorization through December 11, 2015. Congress has extended the commission's authorization in various types of legislation, including most recently in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 ( P.L. 112-239 ).

Other Related Issues—Foreign Military Financing Aid to Israel98

Section 109 of the CR states that for programs for which current law allows appropriations to be distributed at high rates early in the fiscal year, such high rates of distribution shall not apply under the CR. Instead, distributions are governed by Section 110 of the bill, which requires that "only the most limited funding action" be taken to continue projects and programs under the CR. In the international affairs context, this affects foreign military financing aid to Israel, which the FY2015 appropriation ( P.L. 113-235 ) requires to be disbursed in full within 30 days of enactment. These same general provisions have been included in CRs for a number of previous fiscal years.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Section 150—Department of Housing and Urban Development ("New Core" Project)99

The President reportedly requested this provision, which would allow OMB to apportion certain Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) management and administration funding at a higher rate than would normally be permitted under the standard terms of the CR described earlier in this report. (See " Coverage, Duration, and Rate .") This is to allow HUD to continue on schedule with its "New Core" project, which is a transition of HUD's financial management systems to a federal shared services provider (SSP). OMB has directed federal agencies to consider converting to SSPs to improve their financial systems. At the completion of this transition, HUD will become the first Cabinet-level agency to use a federal SSP. This provision would require HUD to report to Congress before, during, and after the use of the enhanced apportionment authority provided under the bill.