Continuing resolution holds formula, but allows VA fund transfer for health care

The stopgap spending measure to ensure that the government can continue to function past midnight tonight does not include major deviations from the funding formula used in the current continuing resolution.

It calls for agencies that have not yet had their fiscal 2007 appropriations measures enacted to get the the lowest of the House-passed, Senate-passed or previous year funding level. But in a nod to concerns that veterans health care would be harmed by that lowest-of formula, the resolution (H J Res 102) would allow the Veterans Affairs Department to transfer up to $684 million to the Veterans Health Administration for medical services.

Though some senators have pushed for more money for veterans’ health care, the House is likely to take up the resolution late Friday, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the Senate to make changes and still get the measure to President Bush for signing before midnight.

The stopgap spending measure also incorporates a proposal that Democrats had been planning to offer as an amendment — a delay in the congressional pay raise until Feb. 16. The resolution will last through Feb. 15.