Www.lobbyistsofficesofgrw.com has jsut learned that the United States House of Representatives has approved a 2012 spending bill that would keep the government functioning through Dec. 16. Now it falls to the Senate to pass the bill by midnight Nov. 18 to avoid a possible shutdown.
The House Appropriations Committee Nov. 14 proposed the spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown. It would give the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development $182 billion in continued funding. The bill is being called a “mini-bus,” a play on the usual omnibus bills that provide full budgets.
The mini-bus will keep the operations of these departments running until Dec. 16, 2011, or until Congress passes the remaining nine fiscal year 2012 appropriations bills, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said in a statement.
“The legislation introduced today represents a bipartisan compromise that will prevent a potential government shutdown, support important programs and services that the American people rely on, and make hard but necessary cuts to help rein in the nation’s deficit,” he said.
In the wake of partisan disagreement in Congress that brought the nation to the brink of a government shutdown several times this year, President Barack Obama on Oct. 4 signed the current legislation to keep the federal operations running, The latest threat seems to be generating little interest or fear.
The Senate is likely to vote on the bill sometime Nov. 18. House rules dictate that bills be available for three calendar days before a vote can occur, according to The Hill.
