Lawmakers reportedly are nearing an end to a string of costly appropriations delays, with an omnibus FY 2022 funding package in the works this week.

Even if successful, the funding would take effect more than five months into the fiscal year, continuing a run of overdue appropriations stretching back to FY 1997. MOAA has strongly condemned these delays, citing the damage they do on multiple fronts:

• The benefit expansions and improvements often included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) cannot be implemented until funding is in place. This means not only a significant delay in the ramp-up of worthwhile projects, but also continued funding of programs deemed by Congress as no longer necessary.
  
  
• Continuing resolutions handcuff DoD planners, who may need to delay or cancel training, pause hiring for critical positions, or make other short-term moves at the expense of long-term goals. The real cost from many of these decisions is borne by those in uniform and their families, with quality-of-life programs facing a financial squeeze.
  
  
• The looming threat of a federal shutdown brings financial uncertainty, the need to spend critical resources on crafting emergency plans, and in the case of some uniformed servicemembers, real questions over whether they’ll receive their next paycheck.

Thousands of MOAA members and other visitors to MOAA’s new Legislative Action Center already have let their lawmakers know it’s long past time to fix this annual budget debacle. And while this year’s version may be nearing completion – just in time for spring – we cannot let the message go unsent for months as another budget process begins late.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Legislators to Fund the Government]

With many legislators facing primary elections or a challenge in the November midterms, now is the time to get this point across: Funding the government is a primary function of Congress, and it should not be treated like an overdue homework assignment, scribbled in the margins of a hastily designed deal assembled among competing legislative priorities and political grandstanding.

Send your lawmaker a message on behalf of uniformed servicemembers past and present, and their families, seeking a fast fix for this year’s funding and a deliberate effort to pass timely funding in 2023 – a move that would save the government billions and strengthen our national security at a time when both benefits should be at the top of the priority list.

Keep up to date with the budget cycle, and with other MOAA request for member action, via our Advocacy News page.