Such resolutions, passed instead of full budgets, generally hold that funds may be used in the same way as federal appropriations approved in the previous fiscal year.
In general, no new spending “starts” are allowed under a continuing resolution (also called a “CR”), said Michael Gessel, vice president of federal government programs for the Dayton Development Coalition.
That means new programs and new contracts that were set to begin during the fiscal year (which ends Sept. 30, 2025) won’t start.
Said Gessel, “That could be a setback for some contractors and programs at Wright-Patterson.”
Over the weekend, House Republican leaders presented the CR as a stopgap that would fund the federal government at current levels through the end of fiscal year.
Under the defense blueprint the House approved in December, $121.1 million would have been directed to six military construction projects across Ohio, including: $9.2 million to design an “Advanced Materials Research Laboratory” at Wright-Patterson, $1.9 million to design a Space Force Intelligence Center, also at Wright-Patterson, as well as $53 million for a district cooling plant at the base, to improve energy efficiency, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, a longtime Wright-Patt advocate.
But Gessel added that because there was no agreement between the House and Senate on proposals for Wright-Patterson, it wasn’t certain that the base would have gotten funding even with a regular appropriations bill.
One exception: The cooling plant for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson was authorized in a different bill last year. That project is not directly affected, Gessel said.
Then-Sen. Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton were talking of a cooling system upgrade for NASIC as early as the summer of 2020.
“The continuing resolution doesn’t increase defense spending as much as a regular appropriations bill might have,” Gessel said. “However, the bill would give the Pentagon the ability to shift $8 billion between accounts for priority projects. At this point it’s unclear whether any of that would end up going to Wright-Patterson to make up for the lost funding.”
“If the CR passes, we’ll have to start the budget process over again for FY (fiscal year) 2026,” a spokesman for Turner told this newspaper. “Congressman Turner will continue fighting for Wright-Patterson-focused budget provisions in next year’s appropriations bill.”
The 99-page CR bill would provide a slight boost to defense programs while trimming nondefense programs below 2024 budget year levels, the Associated Press reported.
Congress must act by midnight Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Air Force leaders generally detest CRs.
“A CR of any length impacts (Air Force) readiness, hinders acceleration of the Space Force, delays military construction projects, reduces aircraft availability, and curbs modernization in our race for technological superiority,” former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees last year.
Turner isn’t a fan, either. Dayton’s congressman, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, in 2018 introduced the “It’s About Time Act” to change the government funding deadline from October 1 to January 1.
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