By Corey Boles
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- House lawmakers Thursday approved a measure continuing federal government funding at fiscal 2009 levels until mid-December, when Democrats hope the debate on a health care overhaul will have been completed.
Without the extension, the federal government would be forced to shut down Sunday at midnight. It is the second continuation of federal government funding at last year's levels. The move was made necessary because the U.S. Senate has still been unable to complete its appropriations work from fiscal 2009.
The House vote was 247-to-178, with the majority of Republicans voting against the legislation.
Congress must pass 12 spending bills each year to keep the various departments and agencies of the federal government running. In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, it fell short of this mark.
This is in no small part due to the focus on piecing together health care legislation, which has dominated lawmakers' attention for several months.
The Senate must still take up the bill by the end of the week to avert a federal government shut down.
The legislation also continues current elevated federal home loan guarantee levels through 2010. In response to the housing crisis, the federal government raised the levels of loans that could be guaranteed by Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) and other federal housing agencies. Those levels would revert to their lower caps by the end of the year without action by Congress to continue it.
The Treasury issued a statement Thursday urging Congress to continue the elevated loan guarantees.
The bill also extends until mid-December the highway bill, which sets the formula for federal reimbursement of state road and bridge construction projects.
The House and Senate are divided over whether to proceed with multi-year and costly legislation to reauthorize the highway program, or to opt for a shorter term measure to delay the more comprehensive legislation.
Both the Obama administration and the Senate want to delay the longer reauthorization until after the 2010 election.
The various continuations were attached to one of the 12-must pass spending bills, one funding the Interior Department and related agencies in fiscal 2010. That bill allocates $32.2 billion in spending for initiatives including a program to clean up The Great Lakes and funding to combat forest fires.
Many House Republicans voted against the measure citing concerns over the fact that it increases the budgets of the federal agencies it covers by 17% compared to fiscal 2009.
"The bottom line for me is the conference agreement simply spends too much money," Rep. Michael Simpson, (R., Idaho), said on the House floor.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com