Once again, the clock was ticking and a continuing resolution (CR) that provided funds for the federal government to continue operating was about to expire on March 11. With only a single day to go before another CR might have to be created, legislators in both chambers rose to the occasion by producing an omnibus bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471), for President Biden to sign into law to furnish money for the remainder of FY 2022. Although the achievement required nearly six months of effort after the current fiscal year began last October, a collective sigh of relief throughout the government accompanied this outcome.
Despite being at loggerheads on many issues in a Congress almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans serving in both House and Senate, the results were greeted with general satisfaction by both groups. Weighing in at a colossal 2,700 pages, 1.5 trillion dollars now can be divided in varying amounts among all 12 fiscal year 2022 spending categories. Division H of the bill pertains to the Labor-HHS-Education section. For example, $45 billion is designated for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), representing a $2.5 billion (4.7%) increase over the comparable FY 2021 funding level, the seventh consecutive increase since FY 2016. The CDC has been awarded $8.4 billion, an increase of $582.4 million (7.4%) above the FY 2021 program level. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will receive $350 million, an increase of $12.4 million (3.7%) above the FY 2021 spending level. The Health Resources and Services Agency (HRSA), an entity that has a major focus on the health workforce, will benefit from obtaining $799 million for Title VII Health Professions and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs, a $45.1 million (5%) increase above FY 2021 comparable levels.
Disagreements over how much funding to provide for defense and non-defense purposes account for some of the delay that occurs each year in the appropriations process. Democrats tend to place more emphasis on supporting various social programs rather than defense activities, while Republicans generally are more inclined to do the opposite. For FY 2022, the omnibus legislation allows for almost equal increases in defense and nondefense spending from FY 2021 levels, with a $42 billion ( 5.6%) increase in defense accounts and $46 billion or a 6.7% boost for nondefense programs. Democrats originally hoped to double that amount. Another factor that helps to slow down the speed of legislation is an attempt by Democrats each year since 1976 to override the Hyde Amendment, a provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of a woman, or if her pregnancy arises from incest or rape. That component remains intact.
Appropriations legislation from previous years was famous for including “earmarks” for special endeavors favored by members from each party in both chambers. Senator William Proxmire (D-WI) became famous for creating what he called the “Golden Fleece Award.” From 1975 to 1988, he issued on a monthly basis 168 such honors. His purpose was to expose to public view the somewhat less than noble ways in which the federal government wastes the hard-earned money of taxpayers. Banned 11 years ago, the new round of spending includes some 5,000 separate earmarks at a cost of $9.7 billion.