WASHINGTON, DC—The Senate has passed a budget on a party line vote of 51-48. It is a milestone of a dubious sort – the lawmaking body has been unable to agree on a budget for more than five years. A similar budget passed the House of Representatives last week.

What the budget's ultimate fate will, though, still must play out. President Obama has said he will veto funding bills that seek to unwind the Affordable Care Act –- and one provision of the budget is a fast-track vote to repeal Obamacare.

Briefly, for anyone who is not a policy wonk, the House of Representatives and the Senate's budgets do not require the president's signature. These serve as blueprints that set top-line numbers for the appropriations' process. The resulting 12 spending bills, though, do require the president's signature.

Based on the spending guidelines established by the Senate and, last week by the House, that signature won't be forthcoming.

"The president has made clear that he will not accept a budget that locks in sequestration going forward, nor one that reverses sequestration for defense – whether explicitly or through backdoor gimmicks – without also reversing sequestration for non-defense," the White House said in a statement.

So will this budget and the forthcoming legislative maneuvering ultimately be an exercise in futility? Practically speaking, probably. But the measure represents an important symbolic victory for the District and surrounding area, says JLL's Joe Brennan.

"This is the first joint budget resolution since 2009," he tells GlobeSt.com. "Please remember it's May of 2015!"

The budget is a huge step, he says, as it shows that Congress is making an attempt to govern and provide direction. For DC, this means a clear direction for Federal spending.

"The Washington economy has been behind the rest of the nation simply because our engine -- a federal budget -- has been stalled," Brennan says. "I am encouraged by this positive effort by the Congress, this is good news for the Washington economy."