Stopgap Funding Not a Perfect Solution

By: fedweek

Congress and the White House appear to be on track to again use a maneuver that has been employed repeatedly in similar situations, enacting a stopgap measure called a “continuing resolution” to provide needed funding. However, even that solution potentially carries problems for agencies, especially if such measures are kept in place for a substantial time. Typically, the funding level in a continuing resolution is the lowest of the prior year’s actual appropriation, or the House or Senate version under consideration. That can be a special hardship on agencies that have taken on new responsibilities, and those whose funding levels are caught in political disputes.