August 20, 2014 4:31 PM

With no federal budget in sight, more Congressional showdowns loom

“Everything is going to be driven by deadlines”

MINNEAPOLIS - The federal budget picture as Congress is in its August recess has many of the same characteristics of last year’s picture minus one significant point: Too little progress between the two chambers to guarantee a final document by the end of the fiscal year but almost no chance of another last-minute government shutdown.

Analysts before the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Budget & Finance Committee agreed Wednesday morning it would be deadlines and not principles that will drive future budget negotiations. Jeff Hurley of NCSL and Trinity Tomsic of the NCSL-spinoff Federal Funds Information for the States both expect a continuing resolution to be done in quick order when lawmakers return to Washington.

“We’ve really had no change with the new Congress. We’re halfway into the budget year, and we’ve yet to pass a budget,” Tomsic said. “We do expect them to do a continuing resolution when they get back from the August recess. We do know they are going to fund programs but the question will be the timing, duration and provisions of the continuing resolution.”

Tomsic and Hurley split duties on appropriations and taxation options. Tomsic predicted funding levels driving the discretionary budget would be essentially the same as last year, with some minor program-by-program tweaks. The Budget Control Act still prevails over the budget, which means a mandatory 7.3 percent to non-defense programs and 9.5 percent cut to defense.

By Kimberly Reeves