On December 21 the Senate approved, 79-16, a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through March 4, 2011 (P.L. 111-322); the House approved the measure, 193-165, the same day. The previous CR (P.L. 111-317) expired on December 21 (see The Source, 12/17/10). None of the twelve FY2011 spending bills have been passed by Congress. The president signed the bill into law on December 22.
The House previously passed a year-long CR on December 8 (see The Source, 12/10/10), while the Senate worked to develop an omnibus spending bill that would combine the outstanding FY2011 appropriations bills. As a compromise, House and Senate negotiators agreed to extend the FY2010 spending levels until March 2011.
The legislation includes a provision to extend until March 4 funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant and child care entitlement state programs, as well as an increase for the Pell Grant program to cover an estimated shortfall for the 2011-2012 academic year.
