By Chris LaPage, August 2012
Why is the FY 2013 budget so important to Grantseekers?
As we approach the end of Fiscal Year 2012 and start a new one on October 1st, now is the perfect time to start projecting the 2013 grant funding landscape. Knowing what to expect in 2013 is important to any organization that takes grantseeking seriously. Understanding what is coming down the pipeline can inform an organization's strategic planning and budget processes. For instance, if it is known there is some potential grant funding to fund a distance learning project in rural Kansas, then that school district may allocate their own funds to professional development activities instead. Furthermore, the heads up can provide a much longer runway than the typical 4 to 6 weeks that organizations typically have to respond to a grant solicitation. There is a direct correlation between the amount of time an applicant spends on a proposal and the overall quality and competitiveness of their submission. The federal budget is critical as it represents the primary data source for projecting grant programming and funding levels in any fiscal year.
So what does the 2013 budget tell us?
At the moment...absolutely nothing! Unfortunately, a 2013 budget has not been passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the President. Once a budget is passed, the final bill and accompanying committee reports will contain volumes of information on grant programs that will come out in FY 2013. You can garner some limited information based on the separate and distinct budgets that have been worked out amongst each of the major players in the process. For instance, you can look for areas where the President's proposed budget meshes with those passed by the House and Senate, separately. If you were to analyze all three budgets, you would be able to identify some grant programs that all can agree are necessary, albeit they may disagree on funding levels. For instance, all three versions floating around have the traditional homeland security funding for municipalities and Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) for law enforcement. While you may be able to identify some commonalities, there is still a great deal of uncertainty without knowing the amount of potential funding that will be available. Furthermore, when all sides move forward to conference in an attempt to resolve the differences in their respective proposals, there is no guarantee the compromise package will include the programs they all seemed to endorse individually.
When can we expect a FY 2013 budget to be passed and signed into law and how will the upcoming elections impact the timing?
March 29, 2013. I will be the first to admit that the lottery holds better odds of winning than picking the exact day of a future event based on politics and ideological compromise. Certainly it is guess work to a large degree, but a working knowledge of history and politics leads me to such a conclusion. Those that are unfamiliar with the federal budget process may wonder how I could possibly pick a date past the end of the fiscal year, or September 30, 2012. The government has to fund itself, so how can they push this process out to next Spring? In the last quarter century, the truth is the federal government misses the mark more often than it hits the target. When a budget is not passed and the end of the fiscal year is approaching, they have shown a willingness to adopt a continuing resolution that keeps the federal agencies operating at the same funding levels of the previous fiscal year. Such a resolution typically has an expiration date and is meant to provide more time to negotiate a budget to fund the government through the rest of the year. Unfortunately, in many years one continuing resolution leads to another and funding can remain uncertain deep into the fiscal year.
The fact that this is a huge election year with many government posts up for grabs will likely increase the odds of a continuing resolution and delay passage of a formal FY 2013 budget. In addition to the Presidency, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for reelection. The last thing that politicians want to do ahead of an election cycle is to take controversial stands on taxes and spending items, the two primary hallmarks of a federal budget. Thus, there will be incentives for both Democrats and Republicans to delay an official budget and pass a continuing resolution to at least get through the elections.
Following the elections there will be about six weeks of what is considered a lame duck session before the newly elected officials replace the ousted incumbents. History shows that this will be a particularly unproductive time for Congress as all sides are usually reluctant to push anything forward. In early January, the new Congressional Session will begin and newly elected representatives will go through orientations, leadership may change hands, and there will be some reorganizing with offices and committee assignments. It is plausible that 4 to 8 weeks may pass before the logistical considerations have been resolved and the respective bodies are ready to legislate. If a new President is elected and inaugurated January 20, 2013, the transition period will be much longer. Keeping these considerations in mind, it very well could be March or April before all parties are in a position to finalize a federal budget. Depending on what parties control each branch of government, a compromise can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.
So even though most people realize that a FY 2013 Federal Budget is not a realistic possibility until after the election, the truth is that we might see continuing resolutions passed as stop-gap measures until next Spring.
What does this mean for grant programs in FY 2013?
The absence of a FY 2013 budget does not necessarily mean we have no idea what is on the horizon in terms of grant programming for the year. First and foremost, the budget is not the sole piece of legislation that makes appropriations. For instance, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 appropriated funds for various grant programs for several years. As long as that law remains in effect, there are certain grant programs flowing out of the Prevention and Public Health Fund that are funded through FY 2020. In addition, you can look at the last several fiscal years and get a historical snapshot of the programs typically available on an annual basis. Continuing resolutions typically will keep funding levels consistent with the previous year, so you can expect the status quo for many grant programs we see on an annual basis. The most important thing is to identify the general areas where grants are targeted so that you can build grantseeking into your organization's strategic planning and budget process.