The 117th Congress concluded with a bang, passing an Omnibus appropriations package right before breaking for the holidays. President Biden signed into law “HR 2617, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023” on Dec. 29. This ends a tumultuous fiscal season where we witnessed the president’s budget release to Congress on March 23, 2022—well beyond the mandated date of the first Monday in February. Congressional action fared no better with Congress skipping passage of a budget resolution, appropriations leaders introducing partisan language without ample hearings, and Congress failing to pass all 12 annual stand-alone appropriations bills. Finally, with a federal government shutdown looming, Congress employed two continuing resolutions to give the process more time before passing 4,408 pages of legislation.
The impact on the states was large, as usual. NCSL advocated for inclusion of several lame-duck priorities. Congress included language from the State, Local, Tribal, and Territory Recovery, Infrastructure and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, reauthorized and funded the Maternal, Infant and Early Child Home Visiting program, and included language supporting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. NCSL also advocated for the exclusion of permitting proposals that further preempt existing state authority to certify infrastructure projects – which were not included in the Omnibus. However, Congress failed to act on the NCSL priority to pass Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.
States rely on a timely, transparent federal budget process for their own fiscal planning. As we begin the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process, NCSL will continue its advocacy work. This includes on-time introduction of a President’s budget, early passage of a budget resolution, timely release of appropriations language with congressional hearings, and passage of the 12 annual stand-alone appropriations bills instead of an enormous end-of-year package.
Bill Text: The complete bill text for HR 2617, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 can be found at congress.gov.
Explanatory Notes: The Senate Appropriations Committee provided information for each of the traditional spending bills contained in HR3617 and their explanatory notes, for this information, please visit their website.
Funding Table: Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS), through its Jim Martin Table, summarizes funding for major grant programs.
NCSL Summary: NCSL’s State-Federal Affairs team has compiled a summary of policy impacts and major budget numbers–information is organized by NCSL Standing Committee:
Budgets and Revenue
- Child Tax Credit and Tax Extenders
- The Securing a Strong Retirement Act–Secure 2.0
- State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act
- State and Local Taxes Deduction
Communications, Financial Services, and Interstate Commerce
- Broadband
- Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act
Education
- Career and Technical Education
- Elementary and Secondary Education
- Early Childhood Education
- Higher Education
Health and Human Services
- Child Abuse and Prevention
- Maternal Health
- Medicaid
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse
- Nutrition
- Medical Supply Chains
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
- Telehealth
- Veterans
- Workforce
Labor and Economic Development
- Cultural Affairs
- Economic Development
- Housing
- Labor and Employment
- Occupational Licensing
- Trade
- Veterans and Military Affairs
Law, Criminal Justice and Public Safety
- Cybersecurity
- Disaster Relief
- Grants to State and Local Law Enforcement
- Immigration
Natural Resources and Infrastructure
- Agriculture
- Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure
- Disaster Relief and Migration
- Energy
- Payment in Lieu of Taxes
- Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Cleanup
- Permitting
- Transportation
- Western Water and Related Resources