washingtonscene

a massive highway bill to make emer- gency infrastructure improvements; a bill to extend important expiring tax breaks; and legislation to raise the federal debt ceil- ing and avoid national default. The key question: Can Congress over- come politics long enough to avoid a fiscal train wreck in December — or earlier?

Three Things to T

Know About CRs What continuing resolutions (CRs) do and don’t do.

here’s a big difference between using appropriations acts (the regu- lar way to fund the government)

and stopgap continuing resolutions (CRs) to keep the government open. Here are three important things to

know about CRs: 1. Even without a CR, not everything

stops. In the event of a shutdown, “nones- sential” government functions will shutter, but that doesn’t mean everything will close. Agencies protecting life, limb, and prop- erty will remain open. That means the mili- tary will continue to work — without pay — but civilian staff might have to stay home. Programs codified in existing statute,

like military retired pay and Social Secu- rity, will continue uninterrupted. However, anything subject to annual

appropriations, like defense spending and processing of new VA disability and Social Security claims, will be halted. 2. CRs aren’t that uncommon. The last time Congress passed all of its annual ap- propriations bills by the Oct. 1 deadline was almost 20 years ago, with the FY 1997 bud- get. CRs can last for as little as a day or as long as an entire fiscal year.

3. CRs are costly. Every time Congress

heads toward a CR, federal agencies and departments have to spend time creating guidelines for offices and develop new spending plans.

CRs usually contain provisions stipulat- ing money can be spent only on what was approved the previous year. Effectively, that means the government goes into a hiring freeze. Because agencies lack the authority to hire replacements, it also can potentially delay termination of bad employees. For the military, it means not spending money on new bullets, planes, or infra- structure. Delaying purchasing decisions on new weapon systems drives up per- unit cost. Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work recently lamented, “There is no organization on this earth that would be able to remain in business, operating under these conditions.” CRs also wreak havoc on force manage- ment. The services have to go to Congress to get special permission to provide bonus pays and incentives.

In an interview with Defense One, Air

Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said DoD has the ability to maneuver for about three months under a CR, but any longer proves much more difficult. “It creates a lot of work, a lot of churn, and a lot of confu- sion for everybody involved,” Welsh said.

TRICARE Fees T

Rose in October The annual enrollment fee increase is set by law.

RICARE Prime annual enroll- ment fees rose 1.8 percent Oct. 1, to $565 for families and $282 for

individuals. The increases affected mili- tary families and retirees under age 65.

*on the web: Inim voluptat elit utpating ex etuerci eu feum eum aliquating ese feugait NOVEMBER 2015 MILITARY OFFICER 33