4 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT CONGRESS DID LAST WEEK

Ok, so everyone knows that Congress finally passed spending bills for most of the government before it left town last week. What does that mean to you? 1. Don’t Expect Your Customers To Have Their Budgets Yet: It takes time after Congress passes a spending bill for OMB to work with each agency and for money to be properly programmed. Figure on mid-to late January before each organization has its final numbers. 2. $1.1 Trillion Isn’t As Big As It Sounds: The measures passed by Congress last week fund most government operations, not just procurement and contracting. In fact, figure on most agencies having about the same budgets as they had last year. 3. DHS Isn’t Covered: Congress appropriated money for other agencies, but DHS got a Continuing Resolution. The difference? DHS can’t initiate new projects unless or until they get their own appropriation. We won’t know this until at least the end of February. 4. Get It Done Now:   Don’t look now, but many budget-watchers are predicting a second round of sequestration for FY’16. Do business now and try to lock in multi-year commitments or find projects that don’t rely on appropriated funding.