Contents

• LHHS Overview
• FY2017 Omnibus
• FY2017 Continuing Resolutions
• Earlier FY2017 Congressional Action on LHHS
• Budget Resolution and Spending Limits
• Additional Resources

The House and the Senate began their consideration of annual appropriations for FY2017 during calendar year 2016.¹ Of the 12 bills that are used to consider these appropriations, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill is one of the largest and most controversial. When taking into account both mandatory and discretionary funding,² the bill typically contains about $900 billion in appropriations each fiscal year.

Final FY2017 LHHS appropriations were enacted on May 5, 2017, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31). This omnibus appropriations act followed three FY2017 continuing resolutions (CRs; P.L. 114-223, P.L. 114-254, and P.L. 115-30), which generally maintained FY2016 LHHS appropriations levels, minus an across-the-board reduction for discretionary spending programs.

Prior to the start of the fiscal year (October 1, 2016), both the House and Senate appropriations committees had taken action on FY2017 LHHS appropriations bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its LHHS bill on June 9, 2016 (S. 3040); the House Appropriations Committee LHHS bill was ordered reported on July 14, 2016, and was reported to the House on July 22, 2016 (H.R. 5926). Neither measure was considered on the House or Senate floor.

This report provides a brief summary of the general scope of the LHHS appropriations bill, status of congressional action with regard to the FY2017 bill, and a list of additional resources. For a more robust treatment of FY2017 LHHS appropriations, see CRS Report R44691, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2017 Appropriations, coordinated by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

LHHS Overview

The LHHS bill provides appropriations for the following federal departments and agencies:

• the Department of Labor;
• most agencies at the Department of Health and Human Services, except for the Food and Drug Administration (provided in the Agriculture appropriations bill), the Indian Health Service (provided in the Interior-Environment appropriations bill), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (also funded through the Interior-Environment appropriations bill);
• the Department of Education; and
• more than a dozen related agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Railroad Retirement Board.³

When taking into account both mandatory and discretionary appropriations, the LHHS bill is consistently the largest of the 12 annual appropriations acts. The size of the bill reflects the fact that it includes annual appropriations for a number of mandatory spending programs, such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. Mandatory spending typically accounts for the majority of the LHHS bill (about 81% in FY2017).

It is notable that the LHHS bill contains such a large proportion of mandatory appropriations because most mandatory spending is not provided through the annual appropriations process, but rather through budget authority provided by the program's authorizing law (e.g., the Social Security Act). However, while the levels of spending for appropriated entitlements like Medicaid are controlled by requirements in authorizing law, the laws lack the appropriations to fund those entitlements. As a consequence, those appropriations are provided through the annual appropriations process.

In general, the appropriations process has little control over the amounts provided for appropriated entitlements; rather, the authorizing statute controls the program parameters (e.g., eligibility rules, benefit levels) that entitle certain recipients to payments. If the money necessary to meet these commitments is not appropriated, entitled recipients (e.g., individuals, states, or other entities) may have legal recourse. Because the amount of appropriated mandatory spending is not determined through the appropriations process, discretionary appropriations tend to receive the most attention during the consideration of the LHHS bill, even though they account for less than a quarter of total LHHS appropriations.

Furthermore, while discretionary appropriations represent a relatively small share of the entire LHHS bill, those funds are typically the largest single source of nondefense discretionary appropriations for the federal government (the Department of Defense bill is the largest single source of discretionary appropriations overall).⁴ In FY2017, the LHHS bill accounted for about 31% of all nondefense discretionary appropriations and about 14% of all discretionary appropriations.⁵

FY2017 Omnibus

On May 5, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31). This omnibus appropriations act included full-year LHHS appropriations in Division H. LHHS appropriations for FY2017 total roughly $934 billion in mandatory and discretionary funding. This is an increase of about 5% compared to FY2016 LHHS appropriations levels. The total includes amounts provided by the FY2017 omnibus, as well as certain full-year funds appropriated in the second FY2017 continuing resolution (P.L. 114-254, Division A).⁶

Table 1 displays congressional action on full-year FY2017 LHHS appropriations that occurred both before and after the start of the fiscal year.

FY2017 Continuing Resolutions

Full year appropriations were not enacted by the start of FY2017 (October 1, 2016). As a consequence, temporary funding for LHHS was provided by three CRs.

The first FY2017 CR was enacted on September 29, 2016 (P.L. 114-223, Division C). With limited exceptions, the CR generally funded discretionary LHHS programs at FY2016 levels, minus a reduction of about one-half of one percent (-0.496%) through December 9, 2016. Mandatory programs covered by the CR were generally continued at current law levels, less sequestration (where applicable). Provisions specifically affecting LHHS programs appeared in Sections 116 and 138-141.

The second FY2017 CR was enacted on December 10, 2016 (P.L. 114-254, Division A). This CR provided continuing LHHS appropriations through April 28, 2017. It generally funded discretionary LHHS programs at FY2016 levels, minus an across-the-board reduction. However, instead of the across-the-board reduction of 0.496% (per the first FY2017 CR), the reduction in second CR was 0.1901%. Mandatory programs covered by the CR were generally continued at current law levels, less sequestration (where applicable).⁷ The second CR extended all of the provisions in the first FY2017 CR, including special provisions for LHHS programs. In addition, the second FY2017 CR included a number of new provisions affecting LHHS programs, which appeared in Sections 168-174, Sections 194-195, and Sections 198-201.

The third FY2017 CR was enacted on April 28, 2017 (P.L. 115-30). It provided continuing LHHS appropriations through May 5, 2017, when the FY2017 omnibus was signed into law. This CR continued LHHS funding under the same terms and conditions as the second FY2017 CR.

For further information on the FY2017 CRs and their LHHS-specific provisions, see CRS Report R44723, Overview of Further Continuing Appropriations for FY2017 (H.R. 2028), coordinated by [author name scrubbed]; and CRS Report R44653, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2017 (H.R. 5325), coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

Earlier FY2017 Congressional Action on LHHS

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2017 LHHS appropriations bill on June 9, 2016 (S. 3040), by a vote of 29-1. (The LHHS subcommittee had reported the bill two days prior by a voice vote.) About one month later, the House Appropriations Committee's version of the bill was approved in subcommittee on July 7, 2016, by a voice vote. It was ordered reported by the full committee on July 14, 2016, by a vote of 31-19, and reported to the House on July 22, 2016 (H.R. 5926). In the last decade, initial subcommittee action on the LHHS bill has begun as early as June and as late as September.⁸

Neither the House nor the Senate committee versions of the LHHS appropriations bill (H.R. 5926 and S. 3040) were considered on the floor.

Budget Resolution and Spending Limits

Consideration of FY2017 LHHS appropriations occurred in the context of statutory and procedural constraints on discretionary spending. The statutory constraints are provided through the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25, as amended), which imposes separate limits on defense and nondefense discretionary spending each fiscal year.⁹ The LHHS bill is subject to the nondefense limit. For FY2017, the nondefense discretionary limit is $518.5 million, which is $40 million (-0.01%) less than the FY2016 nondefense limit. Amounts provided under the nondefense limit are typically distributed across all 12 of the annual appropriations acts, while only about half of the acts also receive appropriations that are subject to the defense limit.¹⁰

Separately, the congressional budget process also provides a means of procedural budget enforcement through the adoption of a budget resolution. The budget resolution provides an overall limit on spending allocated to the House and the Senate appropriations committees (referred to as a "302(a) allocation"). The appropriations committees subsequently divide the 302(a) allocation among each of their 12 subcommittees, effectively establishing limits on each of the annual appropriations bills (commonly referred to as "302(b) suballocations").¹¹ These subcommittee levels may be revised throughout the annual appropriations process to reflect changing priorities and other budgetary actions.

The House and the Senate did not adopt a budget resolution prior to the start of FY2017.¹² In its absence, the Senate Budget Committee chair filed budgetary levels in the Congressional Record that were enforceable in the Senate as if they had been included in a budget resolution for FY2017.¹³ Based on these levels, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported their initial 302(b) suballocations on April 18, 2016, and subsequently issued several revisions to these suballocations.¹⁴ In the absence of a budget resolution in the House, the House Appropriations Committee chose to adopt "interim 302(b) suballocations" for the appropriations bills as those bills were marked up in full committee.¹⁵ These interim suballocations are not procedurally enforceable. An interim suballocation for the LHHS subcommittee was adopted by the House Appropriations Committee on the same day that the bill was ordered reported out of committee, on July 14, 2016.¹⁶

Ultimately, a budget resolution for FY2017 (S.Con.Res. 3) was adopted in the Senate on January 12, 2017, and in the House on January 13, 2017. Following adoption of the budget resolution, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported further revisions to its 302(b) suballocations.¹⁷ The House Appropriations Committee did not officially report its FY2017 suballocations.

Table 2 displays both the initial and most recently published (current) FY2017 Senate 302(b)s, the House interim 302(b), and the FY2017 enacted and FY2016 comparable levels. The table shows that amounts enacted for FY2017 regular LHHS appropriations subject to the discretionary spending limits were $934 million (-0.6%) less than comparable FY2016 levels. The table also shows LHHS appropriations for which adjustments may be made to the discretionary spending limits under the BCA, including funding for certain LHHS program integrity activities and (where applicable) emergency requirements.

Additional Resources

The following resources provide additional information on the status of congressional action on FY2017 appropriations, as well as the LHHS bill as a whole:

• CRS Appropriations Status Table: FY2017, available at http://www.crs.gov/AppropriationsStatusTable/Index.
• CRS Report R44691, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2017 Appropriations, coordinated by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].
• CRS Report R44287, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2016 Appropriations, coordinated by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].
• CRS Report R44653, Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2017 (H.R. 5325), coordinated by [author name scrubbed].
• CRS Report R44723, Overview of Further Continuing Appropriations for FY2017 (H.R. 2028), coordinated by [author name scrubbed].
• Additional CRS reports addressing key funding questions for the programs and agencies funded by the LHHS appropriations bill are available on the CRS website at http://www.crs.gov/search/#/0?termsToSearch=Labor,%20HHS,%20%26%20Education%20Appropriations&orderBy=Date&navIds=4294930945.

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Footnotes