GOP members of the House of Representatives are eyeing another short-term spending bill that would fund the U.S. government through March 31, 2017. Such short-term legislation, if enacted, would likely delay the enactment of any EB-5 reforms until at least such time.
Appropriations Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kentucky, said in a statement that his committee would immediately start working on "a Continuing Resolution (CR) at the current rate of funding to extend the operations of our government through March 31, 2017."
As we have mentioned previously, the EB-5 Regional Center Program's re-authorization has been extended in relatively brief periods since September 30, 2015 by attaching the program, together with several other immigration programs, to the spending bills which fund the U.S. government more generally. Substantial overhauls to the program have been proposed, however none to date have fully passed through the lawmaking process in either legislative body. As we draw near to the current December 9th legislative spending deadline, the prospects of passage of substantive EB-5 reforms become significantly less.
Such short-term extensions have become the norm in the second term of the Obama Administration amidst partisan differences in government spending. Given that the incoming Trump Administration will work with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, it remains to be seen how such legislation will fare in periods of (expected) relatively more policy alignment between the Executive and Legislative Branches.
We will have more to report on EB-5 and our opinions of the effects of the incoming Administration on the program in the coming days.
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