Down to the Wire on Funding (again)

Despite seeming indications of bipartisanship and compromise at the end of 2013, the House and Senate Appropriations Conference Committee is up against a January 15th deadline for FY 14 funding decisions that have yet to be made.  Policy riders to the proposed $1.012 trillion Omnibus Appropriations measure are dividing both chambers and their respectively polarized political priorities.  The Omnibus is slated to encompass all 12 funding measures since none were passed last year.  At last count, there were still more than 100 policy riders that still awaited Conference Committee resolution.  The more contentious among them focus on the health care law, financial overhaul strategies, and EPA’s carbon emissions regulations and language pertaining to Clean Water Act jurisdiction.  It remains to be seen whether or how these issues will be resolved.  The most likely solution appears to be another short-term continuing resolution that would add just a few days to the January 15th deadline.