What did they finish? What’s still on the to-do list? Check out what the Appropriations Committees just finished for rural, agricultural and tribal college funding.

On Thursday July 14, Congress closed for campaigns and conventions. Members returned to their states and districts, where they’ll spend the next seven weeks, probably each complaining loudly about members of the other political party. Partisanship is so strong that Congress was unable, in its final hours in town, to pass a measure to prevent the spread of the Zika virus – a concern that could seriously affect any district in the country. But each attempt was loaded down with “poison pills” that the opposite party couldn’t swallow. So nothing passed.

Counting the Days

Congress will reconvene after Labor Day with just a few weeks left in its legislative year. Counting all weekdays (though Congress rarely convenes for a full week), Congress only has about 42 legislative days left between now and the winter holiday break (December 19). Only 19 of those days come before the end of this fiscal year – 2016 – on September 30. That’s all the time Congress will have to figure out – and agree on – how to fund the government in the next fiscal year. 

Counting the Money?

How far did Congress get in its main job – funding the government? Both chambers got off to a good start, but they didn’t finish. The Senate and the House each approved 12 appropriations bills in their respective full Appropriations Committees, and 4 bills in the House and 3 in the Senate got as far as a floor vote. But none of the bills passed both chambers. 

If “regular order” were to be followed, each house would continue to work on passing its own bills, and then the two chambers would appoint conference committees to hammer out the differences in each of the bills. Finally, the compromise (“conference”) version would return to each chamber for final approval. If that happened, the bills would then go to the President’s desk for signature. 

That’s not going to happen. 

House and Senate leaders are talking about what will happen. They might adopt a short-term “continuing resolution” to hold everything in its present pattern (again) for a few weeks or a few months. They might roll all of the bills that their respective committees worked on into a giant appropriations bill – called an “omnibus” – and try to come to some kind of agreement on that huge bill. If there is an omnibus – or even a simpler continuing resolution – there will be a lot of negotiating going on over the fine points and the policy riders (if any) in the bill. In those negotiations, funding for some programs can be cut while others are “enhanced.” Every lobbyist in town will try to protect “their own.”

Where are the programs that affect Indian Country?

Native Americans are affected –in one way or another – by 11 of the 12 appropriations bills. (Not the bill that appropriates funds for the Legislative Branch.) Last month’s update included a report on the progress so far in the bills funding education and health care. Other major funding for Indian Country is included in the Agriculture Appropriations bill. 

Full Appropriations Committees in both the House and the Senate have completed their work on agriculture appropriations. That’s important because the completed bills are likely to be the basis of negotiations later in the year. Also important is the fact that, for Native American programs, the Senate and House committees approved nearly identical funding levels – so those levels are likely to survive negotiations. 

Because 34 tribal colleges are “land grant colleges”—like many state colleges and universities – they receive some support through the Agriculture appropriations bill. In most cases, the level of appropriations recommended for FY2017 is identical to that offered in FY2016. Where unmet needs are great and growing, keeping the same funding is not good news. But in a context where the Agriculture appropriations committees were required to find $500 million in budget cuts in “their” programs this year, continuing the same funding for a program means someone on the committee worked hard to protect it.