Federal Relations Update: FY 2021 Funding; Continuing Resolution and status of COVID talks

Septmeber 22, 2020

As you know, we are reaching the end of the federal fiscal year in DC and in what seems to be a familiar story, we are heading toward a stopgap funding bill or a continuing resolution (“CR”) to fund the government.  The plan up until yesterday morning was that this funding package would be considered in the House on Tuesday September 22 to provide time to meet the September 30th deadline.  After much deliberation and drama, the bill passed last night–with the support of our entire Congressional delegation– to fund the federal government through December 11 and extend the current transportation authorization programs that expire at the end of September 30.

As expected, politics got in the way and a roadblock arose on the recently reached deal Tuesday morning.  The “agreed” upon deal included tens of billions of dollars in farmer payments that Republicans sought in exchange for $2 billion in pandemic-related nutritional assistance that Democrats wanted.  That agreement fell apart when some House Democrats expressed concern that the funding for farmers was politically motivated and urged leadership to remove those provisions and negotiators returned to the table in the House.  Some lawmakers and aides privately worry that Washington is coming perilously close to the September 30 deadline with no agreement to keep the government open.  However the House last night overwhelmingly voted to extend federal funding through December 11, while punting the threat of a government shutdown until after the presidential election.  Some contentious issues around border wall funding and renaming Confederate monuments at federal military institutions remain.

Bottom line is Congress will pass a temporary stopgap spending bill before September 30th.  It is now in the hands of the Senate and will require the President’s signature, but it will happen, and some are reporting it will be done in Congress by the end of the week.

This is all occurring while they are discussing the next potential COVID bill.  Stark differences remain over pandemic relief, coupled with an agreement to keep the CR “clean” of extraneous provisions. This means that another COVID-19 bill may have to wait for a lame duck session (after the election) — or as some are now predicting if the Administration changes, next year.  This will also impact extending the current CR, because it is likely Congress will wait until the lame duck session to move forward with a longer-term funding strategy, and what they do will be anyone’s guess dependent on what happens on (and around) election day.  If recent history is any guide, however, in presidential election years, final appropriations bills tend to get held over until the following calendar year: that’s what happened in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

So, the question is, what does this mean for WSU?   In regard to the CR, not much at this time since funding in any continuing resolution for any duration of time will remain at FY 2020 levels and any research funded under FY 2020 funding will not be impacted.  In addition, this should not change any language in the FY 2020 bills or impact programs like the USDA SCRI language waiting the 1:1 match requirement.

For WSU, the uncertainty is the big issue, especially around the next COVID package.  THERE WILL BE ANOTHER COVID PACKAGE.  The question is  will there be any reason for the House and Senate to reach agreement before the election or do they wait until after the election with  possible uncertainty around who wins the presidency,  what the Senate will do with a potential vote on the Supreme Court appointment and with the CR expiring on 12/11!

Speaker Pelosi recently indicated that the House Democrats would not agree to going any lower in funding than the $2.2 billion that they offered to the Senate last week. Pelosi told reporters that the need for relief — from restaurants to airlines —has “only grown” since the House passed a bill in May and she may be rolling the dice hoping the Senate flips to Democratic control and she can push for higher numbers in the next Congress.

For higher education (and more importantly WSU) that means $26.7 billion in the House passed bill (with formula changes that impact how much funding four-year publics receive) vs. $29 billion in the Senate passed “skinny bill” without formula changes – either way – are held up in negotiations.