With only weeks remaining in the current legislative session and no annual spending bill yet approved by both chambers, some Congressmen are trying nonetheless to get a fiscal 2011 spending bill ready for President Obama's signature.

House members voted narrowly Dec. 8, by 212 to 206, to approve a continuing resolution (H.R. 3082) for the remainder of fiscal 2011 that would freeze overall federal spending at fiscal 2010 levels--$45.9 billion less, in other words, than federal agencies had asked for in Obama's February budget request.

Fiscal 2011 started Oct. 1, without Congress having completed any of the spending bills normally required before federal agencies can spend money. Congress has been periodically passing short-term continuing resolutions to keep the federal government funded; the current continuing resolution expires Dec. 18.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Inouye (D-Hawaii) will reportedly attempt to take a more ambitious route to fiscal 2011 funding and try substituting an omnibus appropriations bill to the House-approved resolution. Inouye's bill would provide $18 billion in more spending than the House bill, but the senator's plan faces opposition from Republicans and Politico reports that the White House is backing the House bill.

The House continuing resolution would provide the Defense Department with $513 billion (not including the costs of wars), $4.9 billion more than fiscal 2010, $19 billion less than the DoD had wanted. (Note: the Defense Department base budget request for fiscal 2011 was $549 billion; however, that amount also includes the military construction request, which is funded through the separate "military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies" budget. Although  $549 billion minus $513 billion is a lot more than $19 billion, the military construction budget makes up the gap.)

The continuing resolution would also grant Defense a rare broad authority to reshuffle funds to accommodate new planned programs and changes in spending from fiscal 2010.

The Homeland Security Department, meanwhile, would get $42.5 billion, close to the fiscal 2010 amount of $42.7 billion. The resolution does fund some DHS programs at their fiscal 2011 requested amounts, including Customs and Border Protection's proposal to spend $574.2 million on "Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and Technology." CBP would also get all the $347.6 million it wanted for information technology modernization.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement would similarly get all the $84.7 million it wanted for IT modernization.

US-VISIT would get $339.3 million under the House resolution, actually $4.65 million more than requested by DHS, although less than the $373.8 million it got in fiscal 2010.

The National Protection and Programs Directorate spending for infrastructure protection and information security would likewise make out well, with the House resolution granting it $878.3 million, more than the nearly $866 million requested in the president's budget (although less than the $899.4 million enacted in fiscal 2010).

The House also voted to give U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' request of $103.4 million for e-Verify, the full amount it had requested.

Veterans Affairs Department IT spending would go down slightly compared to the requested amount. The House resolution would give the VA $3.16 billion for IT whereas the department had requested $3.3 billon.

The National Archives and Records Administration's Electronic Records Archives program would get a cut, with the House willing to allow $72 million on the effort rather than the $85 million NARA wanted, which was also the fiscal 2010 amount.

The Internal Revenue Service's Business Systems Modernization program to replace its magnetic tape master file would also get less than requested, with the resolution setting aside about $364 million for it, less than the $386.9 million the IRS wanted.

Not included in the resolution is any additional funding for new Office of Management and Budget programs, including $50 million OMB requested for a new line item it called "Integrated Efficient and Effective Uses of Information Technology." It proposed spending that money on creating a set of "common platforms for universal tasks," according to its fiscal 2011 budget request. The $50 million would also allow the creation of several new online dashboards and a "FediPedia" collaborative website.

For more:
- go to the THOMAS page of the H.R. 3082 or directly to the bill text
- read (.pdf) a summary of the resolution from the House Appropriations Committee and a statement (.pdf) by committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.)

Related Articles:
Senate appropriators vote to cut WIN-T and JIEDDO
OMB tech plans face cuts in Senate
Senate appropriators fully fund IRS modernization