Congress Passes Short-Term CR Funding Measure
With the looming expiration of the current federal budget on Sept. 30, lawmakers were at an impasse on how to proceed. New COVID-19 variants and the emergence this year of monkeypox fueled debate over the need for additional federal resources to counter these issues. Ultimately, with these threats still simmering, lawmakers dropped the additional health funding from the continuing resolution, leaving major supplemental funds for Ukraine ($12 billion), New Mexico wildfires ($2.5 billion), domestic disaster relief ($2 billion) and home heating assistance ($1 billion).
Sen. Joe Machin (D-W.V.) made a push to include contested energy-permitting reform, but the bill was cut from later drafts of the CR as opposition rose from Republicans and progressive Democrats alike. It is widely expected that Manchin and others will try to include similar permitting provisions in future appropriations measures.
The Senate made the first procedural move by using the Affordable Insulin Now Act (HR 6833) as the legislative vehicle. The chamber passed the resolution 72-25 and sent it to the House, which passed the measure 230-201 before leaving for its scheduled elections break. President Joe Biden signed the resolution on Friday, avoiding the possibility of starting the weekend with an unfunded government. Congress will have to enter a lame-duck session before Dec. 16 to further appropriate funds for the fiscal year 2023 budget.
September 2022 Continuing Resolution Provisions Summary
Extension of Appropriations
- The bulk of the bill is clean, changing only the date, appropriations and authorities extension covering the traditional 12 spending bills. The Congressional Budget Office provides spending estimates of the continuing resolution that can be found here.
Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Contains an extension of authority relating to the development of counter-unmanned aerial systems, also known as cUAS or anti-drone systems, which had been set to expire later this month. The House and Senate have dueling bills to reform how federal, state and local governments are authorized to bring down unauthorized drone operations, with a resolution unlikely before 2023.
Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund
- Extends the Domestic Trafficking Victims Fund, which provides services and support to survivors of human trafficking. A $5,000 assessment is added to the sentence of any nonindigent person convicted of an offense related to human trafficking. These fees are deposited in the Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund, which awards grants to states and localities.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
- Provides $1 billion in additional funding to assist individuals and families with the costs of heating and cooling their homes and to help mitigate the impacts of rising energy costs and extreme weather events. This national program is run by states and carried out by local contractors. It received $3.8 billion in FY 2022 as well as $100 million in the federal infrastructure law and $4.5 billion in the American Rescue Plan.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Extends funding for the TANF program during the period of the continuing resolution. Provides states and territories with flexibility to help low-income families with children achieve economic self-sufficiency. States use TANF to fund a range of services, including monthly cash assistance payments to low-income families with children. The extension will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to make first-quarter payments to states.
Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs (MIECHV)
- Authorizes and funds the continuation of the federal home visiting program through Dec. 16, 2022. The program, which is a partnership between the Administration for Children and Families, states, territories and tribal entities, funds evidence-based home visiting programs that improve maternal and child health outcomes.
PDF of the bill text
NCSL Contacts: Brian Wanko (budgets and revenue), Lauren Kallins (health and human), Jon Jukuri (veterans) and Ben Husch (drones)
SAMHSA to Distribute New Overdose Epidemic Funding
The cross-agency funding proposals include $1.5 billion to address addiction and the opioid crisis and $20.5 million for organizations that help connect people with substance use disorders with community resources. The Office of National Drug Control Policy will allocate $12 million to fight drug-trafficking and to support partnerships to prevent overdoses, and the Food and Drug Administration will release new guidance to increase access to FDA-approved naloxone products. The White House also announced a $104 million investment from the Health Resources and Services Administration to expand access to treatment and prevention services for substance use disorder in rural communities. Read more.
NCSL Contact: Lauren Kallins
Administration’s Proposal to End Hunger and Diet-Related Disease by 2030
The strategy, released a day before the White House convened a national stakeholder conference on the report, includes specific recommendations to end hunger and improve health outcomes. These include, among other things, a permanent extension of the child tax credit, an increase in the minimum wage, expanded nutrition public assistance programs, expanded Medicaid and Medicare coverage of nutrition counseling, Medicare coverage of medically tailored meals, changes in food labeling and SNAP incentives so consumers can make healthier purchases, expanding the CDC’s physical activity and nutrition program, and increased funding for nutrition research. Read more.
NCSL Contact: Lauren Kallins
HRSA to Award Over $226M in Community Health Worker Grants
The Department of Health and Human Services, via the Health Resources and Services Administration, will award over $226 million to support and expand the community and public health workforce. Eighty-three grantees of the Community Health Worker Training Program will receive multiyear awards totaling $225.5 million to expand the workforce by an estimated 13,000 new workers. Additionally, HRSA is awarding $40.7 million to 29 grantees of the Public Health Scholarship Program to expand the community public health workforce by incentivizing workers to pursue training and careers in the field. Previous American Rescue Plan Act allocations have supported deployment of community health workers to increase vaccine efforts, local efforts to create tailored community health worker programs, establishment of a Public Health AmeriCorps, and other community health workforce investments. The new funding comes amid rising concerns about the potential for another spike in COVID-19 cases as the nation moves into the fall and winter months. Read more.
NCSL Contact: Lauren Kallins
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NCSL's Advocacy in Washington
NCSL’s Washington staff advocates on behalf of state legislatures before Congress, the White House and federal agencies in accord with the policy directives and resolutions that are recommended by the NCSL Standing Committees and adopted by the full conference at the annual NCSL Legislative Summit Business Meeting. As a result of the advocacy that is guided by these policies’ positions, NCSL is recognized as a formidable lobbying force in state-federal relations.
NCSL Staff in Washington, D.C.
- Molly Ramsdell | 202-624-3584 | Director
- Susan Frederick | 202-624-3566 | Law, Criminal Justice, and Public Safety
- Nicole Ezeh | 202-624-3568 | Law, Criminal Justice, and Public Safety
- Ben Husch | 202-624-7779 | Natural Resources and Infrastructure
- Kristen Hildreth | 202-624-3597 | Natural Resources and Infrastructure
- Jon Jukuri | 202-624-8663 | Labor, Economic Development and International Trade
- Deanna Ross | 202-624-8680 | Labor, Economic Development and International Trade
- Austin Reid | 202-624-8678 | Education
- Erlinda Doherty | 202-624-8698 | Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce
- Brian Wanko | 202-624-5400 | Budget and Revenue
- Lauren Kallins | 202-624-8170 | Health and Human Services