Congress plans to pass stop-gap funding bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress must pass an emergency,
stop-gap funding bill this week to prevent federal agencies
from shutting down at the start of the new fiscal year on
Saturday.

The action is needed because lawmakers have finished only
two of the dozen separate spending bills that would fund the
government in fiscal 2006.

As a result, the House of Representatives and Senate are
crafting “continuing resolution” legislation that would
maintain government services until those individual bills are
enacted.

“This week, we need to address the continuing resolution as
we end the fiscal year,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said
on Monday.

House and Senate aides said the stop-gap money bill might
extend until November 18 and would fund agencies at the
current-year level, unless a lower level has been preliminarily
approved by the House or Senate.

Besides a bill to keep Congress operating in the new year,
the only other spending measure enacted for the new fiscal year
was a $26.3 billion environmental spending bill. That measure
funds the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land
Management, National Park Service and related agencies for the
year starting October 1.

The House finished its work on all fiscal 2006 funding
bills this summer. But the Senate, preoccupied with the
confirmation of a chief justice and emergency aid for hurricane
victims, has fallen behind.

Frist said that after the continuing resolution is passed,
the Senate will get back to the individual bills that would
provide funds through September 30, 2006.

Next up, Frist said, is a $440.2 billion spending bill for
the military, which includes $50 billion in emergency funds for
the war in Iraq.

Other major bills still to be completed would fund domestic
security, agriculture, foreign aid, veterans and health
programs.

In late 1995 and early 1996, then President Bill Clinton
engaged in a budget struggle with congressional Republicans
that led to a series of government closures. A public backlash
against the Republican-controlled House at the time has made
politicians shy away from such funding battles since then.