Capitol Correspondence - 09.08.20

Congress, Administration Seek to Avoid Pre-Election Government Shutdown

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While Medicaid, which covers most disability supports in the United States, would not be affected by a federal shutdown, many other programs like housing and food aid could be in jeopardy for people with disabilities outside of a health care / long-term supports and services framework. To keep our members informed of this important policy discussion, we are sharing this article by Politico Pro on efforts to fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown when funding for this fiscal year runs out at the end of September.

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have tentatively agreed to use a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September, according to Capitol Hill aides.

The agreement on government funding comes even as the White House and top Democratic officials have been unable to reach a compromise on a new Covid relief package. Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke for more than 30 minutes earlier this week but remain hundreds of billions of dollars apart on additional stimulus efforts to help the slumping U.S. economy.

Yet separating the issue of government funding from coronavirus relief talks removes at least one nightmare scenario from the political landscape two months before Election Day — a stalemate on more economic stimulus coupled with federal agencies shut down and vital services halted in the middle of a pandemic. […]

There is no consensus for how long the stopgap would extend government funding past Sept. 30, said Hill aides. House and Senate Democratic leaders haven’t formally discussed the issue yet, although a mid-December deadline would be the traditional practice during an election year.”