Working Under A CR

From David Ignatius via the Denver Post:

The talk among some of my government buddies this week was an obscure term of federal budgeting known as a "continuing resolution." This is what Congress passes when it hasn't gotten its act together to pass a real appropriations bill before the start of a new fiscal year. The "CR," as it's known, allows agencies to continue operating at the same spending level as the previous year. ...

We are now a month into fiscal 2008 without Congress having approved a single appropriations bill. That means that every federal agency is operating on a "CR" basis, with that funding due to expire Nov. 16. ...

Late appropriations have become a chronic problem, whichever party is in control of Congress. According to Philip Joyce, a budget expert who teaches at George Washington University, Congress has managed to pass all its appropriations bills on time in only three years since 1977. ...

[Rop] Meyers [a political scientist] summarized the inefficiencies that result from having to run an agency without knowing your budget. "When regular appropriations are delayed, uncertainty about final appropriations leads many managers to hoard funds; in some cases, hiring and purchasing stops.

These effects are so unnecessarily counterproductive, it is surprising (the comic strip) 'Dilbert' has not devoted a month to this topic." Joyce argues that government contractors jack up their prices to compensate for the risk and uncertainty. And he notes the added cost for federal agencies who have to plan for the possibility that a new CR won't be approved and that they may have to shut down. "That's what economists would call a dead-weight loss," says Joyce.

"It's a lousy way to do business," says Leon Panetta, who grappled with these issues as director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration.

"You're almost guaranteeing that there will be incompetence, because the agencies don't have the resources to do the job."