Dive Brief:

• The law that the House and Senate passed and President Obama signed to reopen parks, offices and projects for the federal government – at least until mid-January – has a couple of provisions that will be significant to at least a few contractors.
• One provision says that agencies cannot start directly funded construction projects that were not getting at least some funding in the budget year that ended Sept. 30, even if they had been planned for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
• On the other hand, the federal government can spend up to $450 million helping Colorado fix roads ripped up the blooding that happened before Oct. 1, and the Olmsted Locks and Dam Project on the Ohio River now has a cap of $2.9 billion instead of $1.56 billion, so it won't come to a stop next month.

Dive Insight:

It seems that there is never such a thing as a simple bill in Congress, even when one is hailed as being a straightforward solution to a problem. That's not to say that addressing side issues is inappropriate, but it raises the question yet again of whether most lawmakers and most news reporters know what's being passed when a deadline is what is driving decision-making. If the chambers' budget committee can cobble together something that can pass to take the government through the rest of Fiscal 2014, we'll see what's in the details that may well not e read until after.a last-minute vote.