To provide for interim appropriations for the District of Columbia courts and related agencies with respect to any fiscal year for which appropriations are not otherwise provided for such courts and agencies.
H.R. 5654, introduced by Representative Norton in the 119th Congress, would create a temporary, or interim, funding mechanism to keep District of Columbia courts and related criminal-justice agencies operating in any fiscal year when those federal payments are funded in the current year but not in the next year. If a DC court-related federal payment is provided in one year but not the following year, the bill would authorize the U.S. Treasury to place interim funds in the next year at the previous year’s operating rate, sourced from money “not otherwise appropriated.” These interim funds would cover the specified federal payments described in the bill and would be limited to bridging the gap until a new appropriation is enacted. If Congress later enacts a new appropriation for these payments (or a general DC appropriation that does not include them), the interim expenditures would be charged to that new appropriation and would cease once the new appropriation is enacted. The payments covered align with those provided in the DC Appropriations Act, 2024, and continued by subsequent continuing acts. In short, the bill is a stopgap funding mechanism to prevent interruptions in funding for DC courts and related criminal-justice agencies when annual federal funding for those payments is not enacted in a subsequent year.
Key Points
- 1Interim appropriations trigger: If a federal payment to DC courts or related agencies is funded in a current year but not in the next year, the bill authorizes interim funding for the next year to cover that payment.
- 2Funding source and terms: Interim funds would come from money in the U.S. Treasury that is not otherwise appropriated, at the operating rate and under the terms and conditions of the previous year.
- 3Interaction with later appropriations: If a new appropriation for the federal payments (or a general DC appropriation without that payment) is enacted during the same fiscal year, the interim expenditures would be charged to the new appropriation, and the interim funds would cease once the new appropriation is enacted.
- 4Scope of payments covered: The federal payments described include:
- 5Purpose and effect: The measure is designed to maintain continuity of crucial DC court-related operations by bridging funding gaps, ensuring ongoing operations while Congress acts on future appropriations.