On Friday night, the U.S. Senate cleared the Fiscal 2024 Omnibus spending measure for President Biden’s signature. On Saturday morning, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal 2024 Minibus appropriations legislation (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024), avoiding a partial government shutdown. The Fiscal 2024 Minibus will provide agencies funded by the six appropriation measures included in the Minibus with their full year Fiscal 2024 budget.
These agencies can now resume new start purchases and obligate funds consistent with their full-year Fiscal 2024 budgets:
- Agriculture-FDA
- Commerce-Justice-Science (NASA and NSF)
- Energy-Water
- Interior-Environment
- Military Construction-Veterans Affairs
- Transportation-HUD
Within the spending package, lawmakers secured more than $900 million in Community Project Funding or CPFs (formerly called earmarks). The remaining spending measures (Defense, Homeland Security, Financial Services, Labor-HHS-Ed, Legislative Branch, and State-Foreign Operations) are still operating under a continuing resolution but are anticipated to be fully funded by March 22nd.
In addition, the President’s Fiscal 2025 budget request is expected to be released this Monday, March 11th. This budget document, along with the expected release of individual federal agency Fiscal 2025 budget overview documents (to be released over the course of the next week or two), will be the starting point of the next appropriations cycle for the federal budget.
In March, guidelines for CPFs that benefit an entity or locality in a congressional district will be released. Since the funding is specified to a recipient (local governments, 501(c)(3) nonprofits and partnerships), it is by nature not subject to a competitive award process. Potentially eligible projects range from infrastructure, community programs, economic development, and other local initiatives.
