If Congress fails to pass additional funding measures by December 21, the federal government will be forced to shut down. As we have discussed in earlier blogs, Congress has failed to pass numerous full-year funding bills for FY19 (including those for Transportation-HUD and USDA) and those programs have been operating under short-term stopgap measures (continuing resolutions, or CRs). The current CR expires in mere days and current negotiations are mired in border security funding debates.

Some speculation has begun to filter out that lawmakers are considering many approaches to address the impasse. The most promising for our member interests is a proposal to have Congress pass most of the remaining bills for the spending year and extend the CR for the controversial Homeland Security bill. Another option, that seems like a very approach at this point would be to pass another short-term measure to keep the federal government open into the new year. One last approach that has been floated is passing a year-long CR through September 30, 2019, for all the outstanding spending bills.

That approach would be a significant setback. For FY19, HUD needs approximately $1.3 billion and USDA needs at least $10 million more than FY18 appropriations to maintain current program levels and renew existing housing assistance contracts. FY19 THUD and USDA bills included funding increases to address urgent affordable housing and community development needs.

Prosperity Indiana is urging our state's delegation to enact full FY19 spending bills for HUD and USDA. Join us in lifting your voice by calling your lawmakers today! To find your representative and their phone number, click here and enter your zip code in the "Find Officials" box!

Thank you for your advocacy!

For more information, visit our previous FY19 budget coverage here: https://www.prosperityindiana.org/Policy-News/6676998 and here: https://www.prosperityindiana.org/Policy-News/6574990