Non-highway Infrastructure Funding

Issue:  For non-highway infrastructure funding, as of September 19, 2011, no FY 2012 appropriations bills have been approved for the President’s signature. 

Background:    There are 12 appropriation bills that fund the functions of the federal government.  Three of these bills fund non-highway infrastructure programs for the Department of Defense (DoD) Veteran’s Administration (VA), US Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works (Corps) program and the General Services Administration (GSA).  The House and Senate each draft the 12 appropriation bills and then conference them to work out differences and produce a consensus bill for the President’s signature.

As of September 19, 2011 the House has approved six appropriations bills and the Senate just one (Military Construction/Department of Defense).  No bill has been approved to send to the President for signature.   Because of this, Congress will likely pass a continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a government shutdown, which carries over funding levels from the previous year until a new agreement can be reached. 

PCA Perspective:  Based on the current draft FY 2012 appropriation legislation, which will form the basis of the CR, the proposed FY 2012 infrastructure funding levels for those Departments most relevant for non-highway infrastructure projects are as follows: 

DoD Military Construction:  $ 9.06B House (-$3.25B FY11), $8.5B Senate (-$3.75B FY11)

Veterans Administration:   $1.0B House (-$0.5B FY11)

USACE Civil Works:  $1.56B House (-$0.04B FY11)

General Services Administration:  $0B House (-$.082B FY11)

Please see the spread sheet for the state by state break out of the DoD Milcon programs.

Status:  With the current authorized funding set to expire on September 30, 2011, it is expected that a continuing resolution (CR) will be passed to keep the government funded into FY2012.  At this time the exact length of the CR is still in flux.  If the CR is not for a full year, then one of three options would occur;

1.    Congress could pass another CR for a specified time period, during which it hopes to pass each appropriations bill separately

2.    Congress could pass the appropriations bills for the President’s signature or

3.    A combination of 1 and 2 is also possible. If Congress manages to pass some appropriations bills, a CR would be needed to fund those parts of the         government not covered under the new bills.