The recent surprise resignation of long-time ABA friend and supporter Speaker John Boehner has brought a number of very “inside the Beltway” budget terms to the forefront. Terms such as Continuing Resolution (CR), Omnibus Appropriations, Mini Omnibus Appropriations (Minibus), Consolidated Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) have all been in the news.
For all their warts, these terms sum up what used to be the regular order of the federal budget process. A CR is the easiest to explain, it is simply extending the same spending numbers and policies from the previous fiscal year for a short period or more frequently through the next fiscal year. Occasionally a CR will have some policy provisions included but typically they are “clean” CRs.
Omnibus Appropriations is when Congress is unable to complete work on each of the individual spending bills. They roll all the unfinished bills together into one package of new spending levels and policy changes and vote up or down. A Minibus is when Congress gets some of its work done, but still have a number of spending bills it has to roll together, again with both new funding levels and policy provisions. COBRA is the granddaddy of them all. It is the roll up of the tax changes and policy changes to match the congressional budget resolution passed earlier in the year. It is frequently the vehicle for major changes in policy including to Social Security, pension, and myriad tax credits. It also has special rules that severely limit amendments and filibusters in the Senate. COBRA was the vehicle that a united Democratic caucus utilized to pass the Affordable Care Act over the objections of Republicans.
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