This vote was on passing the conference report on a bill that would spend $4.6 billion in fiscal 2010 for the operations of the federal legislative branch.  This includes the operations of Congress, the Library of Congress, the Government Printing Office, the U.S. Capitol building’s police force, and other related offices.

The bill also contains stopgap funding, through Oct. 31, 2009, for any federal department or agency whose fiscal 2010 appropriation bill had not been enacted.  This “continuing resolution” is a procedure which, while not common, is not unheard of, particularly during a busy year when Congress can’t complete its annual appropriations bills.  This “continuing resolution” language would give lawmakers an extra month to finish its appropriations bills.  A conference report is the final agreement reached between the House and Senate when each chamber passes different versions of the same bill.

The bill also would prohibit funds from being provided to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), following a well-publicized private sting operation where representatives of some ACORN offices were seen advocating tax evasion for individuals pretending they worked in the illegal sex trade.

The legislative branch spending bill is generally uncontroversial, however this year Republicans spent most of their time deriding the “continuing resolution” language, using it to batter Democrats over not being able to complete appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year. 

By a vote of 62-38, the conference report was adopted.  All but three Democrats present voted for the conference report.  All but five Republicans present voted against the conference report.  The end result is that the conference report on the fiscal 2010 legislative branch spending bill was adopted and sent to President Obama’s desk.