Allows the Coast Guard to continue paying certain personnel and providing specific benefits during a Coast Guard–only lapse in appropriations. It affirms that the Coast Guard is always a military service and establishes authorities, definitions, expiration rules, and accounting requirements for pay, benefits, and certain civilian/contractor payments during such a lapse.

The law covers active-duty and reserve members, certain Coast Guard civilian employees and contractors, and some death, funeral, and housing benefits for families; it sets limits on when the authorities end and how payments are charged and apportioned to accounts.