Budget Brief 14-05
December 18, 2014
Summary 

On December 16, 2014, the president signed the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83), completing the budget process for fiscal year (FY) 2015 for most federal departments. The omnibus includes all appropriations bills, except the one for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That department is covered by a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that expires February 27, 2015. The funding levels in the 11 appropriations bills are in effect for the entire fiscal year and replace the annualized funding levels set in the previous CR. In addition, the omnibus provides emergency funding for responding to the Ebola crisis, and extends Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Internet tax moratorium through FY 2015.

This Budget Brief describes the funding and policy provisions in the omnibus relevant to states. Table 1 includes FY 2015 funding levels for major grant programs. Compared to FY 2014, states will see a 0.2% increase in these major discretionary programs. Mandatory programs are estimated to increase 9.3%, largely driven by projected growth in Medicaid. A few mandatory programs listed on the table are subject to FY 2015 sequestration of nonexempt mandatory programs.

Overall, the omnibus includes $1.013 trillion in discretionary funding, roughly equal to the FY 2015 discretionary spending cap specified in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (BBA; P.L. 113-67). The table on the next page compares FY 2015 funding levels provided to each appropriations subcommittee—known as 302(b) allocations—to prior years.