Omnibus Bill Completes FY 2010 Appropriations

As fiscal year (FY) 2010 moved into its third month, seven of the 12 annual appropriations bills remained unfinished, with the programs funded by them operating under a continuing resolution. Given its heavy workload, Congress has decided to roll six of these bills into a single omnibus bill (H.R. 3288, Consolidated Appropriations Act): Labor/Health and Human Services (HHS)/Education; Financial Services; Transportation/Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Commerce/Justice/Science; Military Quality of Life/Veteran’s Affairs (VA); and State/Foreign Operations. The president signed the legislation on December 16, 2009. The defense appropriations bill will move separately and likely include a short-term extension of unemployment benefits and COBRA as well as $400 million in administrative costs associated with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Budget Brief 09-08 outlined the relevant provisions of the five appropriations bills that were enacted previously; this Budget Brief describes the provisions of H.R. 3288. Table 1 provides the FY 2010 funding levels for selected major federal grant programs. FY 2010 appropriations for the listed programs increased 6% above FY 2009 levels, reflecting a 5% increase for discretionary programs and a 7% increase for mandatory programs.