Bills Introduced – 12-12-18

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 34 bills introduced. Two of the bills may receive further consideration in this blog:

HR 7264 Making further additional continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2019, and for other purposes. Rep. Lowey, Nita M. [D-NY-17]

HR 7283 To provide minimal cybersecurity operational standards for Internet-connected devices purchased by Federal agencies, and for other purposes. Rep. Kelly, Robin L. [D-IL-2] 

Lowey is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee so, while this is not the official spending bill language, it is politically significant. HR 7264 is a full year continuing resolution bill that would fund the remainder of the government at current levels until the end of FY 2019. There are a few other tack-ons, but nothing objectionable.

What is odd about HR 7264 is the timing. With a week still to go on the current CR, this is very early in the negotiating process for the final spending bill. Politically, it would be a fairly painless way out of the spending mess for the dying 115^th Congress, but it is unlikely to be acceptable to the President.

HR 7283 could be an interesting cybersecurity bill, but it is way too late in the session for this bill to receive any consideration. Keylly has been working on this bill for a while now, so I expect that we will see this reintroduced in January.