HR 2608 Passes on Second Try - FY2012 CR

Last night the House passed an amended version of HR 2608 that included the continuing resolution previously voted down by the house with one relatively minor change that should not directly impact the chemical security or cyber security communities; unless, of course, your company plans to get a DOE Title 17- Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee in FY 2012.

You remember HR 2608; it failed on Wednesday night on a bipartisan rejection of the continuing resolution. That version was further amended by adding a rescission of $1 Million of ‘unobligated funds’ from that DOE program. The revised bill passed 219-203.

The bill does include an extension of the §550 authorization for the CFATS program until November 18^th {§130}.

FY 2012 Continuing Resolution Rule

The House Rules Committee met today to establish the rule for the consideration of H. Joint Resolution 79, Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2012, by the full House. The Rule established today (H Res 399) provides for limited debate and only a single amendment will be allowed to be submitted on the floor. Once the Rule is approved by the House the consideration of this bill could take less than two hours.

The amendment will be offered by Rep. Rogers (R,KY), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. It will be a technical correction to the mathematical adjustment of the FY 2011 spending rates to meet the spending limits found in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The change is necessary because of the Congressional Budget Office scoring of the provisions of the bill was larger than the Appropriations Committee’s staff calculations. The amendment will reduce the FY 2011 spending rates by 1.503% instead of 1.409%.

Since the House has adjourned for the week, the earliest this bill can be considered in the House will be Monday.

Rules Committee Hearing for HJ Res 79 – FY 2012 Continuing Resolution

Early this evening the House Rules Committee announced that it would be holding a hearing tomorrow morning for developing the rule for the consideration of HJ Res 79, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2012. This bill would continue the current FY 2011 funding levels, with some exceptions, through November 11, 2012. This will provide some additional time for the Senate to complete their consideration of at least some of the FY 2012 spending bills (certainly including DHS) currently spending.

As expected, the CR would also extend the current CFATS authorization. Section 130 of the CR reads:

“Section 550(b) of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (6 U.S.C. 121 note) shall be applied by substituting the date specified in section 106(3) [November 18^th, 2011] of this joint resolution for ‘October 4, 2011’”.