Given that we are in a Presidential election year, a continuing resolution (CR) seems likely for many government agencies. Congress must pass and the President must sign 13 separate appropriation bills prior to October 1st. If the Congress and President fail to pass all of the appropriations bills, there will be some agencies and programs that do not have the money appropriated to them that they are authorized to spend. In most instances, the Congress and the President will agree to a Continuing Resolution which temporarily funds the programs and agencies for which appropriations bills have not been passed. A Continuing Resolution (CR) must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. Last year some organizations operated under a CR until well into March. A CR typically funds existing programs at a rate of operations not exceeding the current rate. What does this mean to the Government Executive:

1. New programs must be delayed until after the approval of the appropriations bill or funds must be reprogrammed from existing programs.
2. Increased scope on level of effort contracts will not be realized until after the appropriations bill is passed and all of the added scope must be performed in the period following CR. For example if a $1M contract last year is going to be $2M in FY2005, and assuming the CR lasts for 6 months then only $500K is available for the first six months but $1.5M is available for the remaining six months.
3. Certain things like lease payments must be paid prior to any reprogramming decisions.

Now is the time for Government executives to plan for CR by analyzing the risks associated with not funding or not fully programs, prioritizing critical programs that must be fully funded and FY2005 levels, and working with contractors to rescope and reschedule tasks.