Includes extensions for Ex-Im Bank, flood insurance, health care extenders

On November 19, the House voted 231-192 on a bill (H.R. 3055) to keep the government funded through December 20, sending it to the Senate before current funding expires on Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate will vote on the continuing resolution (CR) later this week and that the White House has indicated President Trump is ready to sign the bill. The short-term spending bill is needed because Congress has failed to agree on any of the 12 annual spending bills needed to fund government agencies for the fiscal year that began October 1, which they will continue to work on in advance of the new December 20 deadline. The House has passed 10 out of 12 fiscal 2020 funding bills, while the Senate has passed four.

Ex-Im Bank, flood insurance. Division A of the continuing resolution, which extends the expiration date of the previous CR to December 20, also extends the charter of the Export-Import Bank through the same date as well as the expiration of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), giving negotiators an additional month to agree on long-term reauthorizations of both programs. The House last week passed a 10-year reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank (H.R. 4863) largely along party lines, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the Senate will not consider that bill and the White House issued a veto threat. In June, the House Financial Services Committee unanimously approved a five-year reauthorization of the NFIP (H.R. 3167) that included several reforms, but senators from coastal states have said that bill does not do enough to keep insurance premiums affordable and have proposed their own flood insurance bill (S. 2187). Division A also further extends the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and several other items expiring on December 20.

Health care extenders. Division B of the continuing resolutionincludes an extension of funding for expiring health care programs including Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, and teaching health centers that operate graduate medical education programs, giving negotiators additional time to work out a paid-for package of longer-term reauthorizations. Among the other health care items included in the measure is an additional delay to $4 billion in payment reductions to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) and a provision to further prevent a Medicaid funding cliff for Puerto Rico and other US territories. The bill also includes funding for other public health programs and Medicaid and Medicare Extenders, such as extensions for special diabetes and outcomes measurement programs; reduces the Medicaid Improvement Fund from $2.487 billion to $1.96 billion; extends funding for the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) demonstration program; and, includes up to $30 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Ebola preparedness and response efforts.

Other measures included in the bill would:

• Prevent an automatic $7.6 billion cut to highway funding from states in FY 2020
• Extend certain elements of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) through March 15
• Provide the military with a 3.1% pay increase
• Allocate $7.28 billion for the Census Bureau to carry out operations for the 2020 census
• Allocate $27.8 million for the Indian Health Service to staff and operate new or recently renovated facilities
• Revise the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund
• Provide a customary payment of $174,000 for the widow of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

For more information:

• Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 (also attached)
• Section-by-Section Summary (attached)

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ATTACHMENT

H.R. 3055

Further Continuing Appropriations Act