Why we need the Government Shutdown Prevention Act
Earlier this week I joined chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) Jeb Hensarling and Senator Jim DeMint in cosponsoring the Government Shutdown Prevention Act.
This is a law I think we desperately need. The last time Congress fully funded the government by the deadline was 1994, in fact 22 of the last 25 years, Congress has failed to finish its most basic job it is expected to do before the end of the fiscal year. Year after year, the biggest spenders in Congress use the threat of a government shutdown to scare seniors, veterans, and others in order to pass more spending bills bloated with earmarks.
Currently, the President and the Democrat Congress are separated by a $23 billion difference on the appropriation bills.
This act provides for an automatic continuing resolution to provide spending authority by either enacting appropriations bills or a continuing resolution. The spending level for each program would be set at the lower of the spending levels provided in the previous fiscal year, or the House and Senate approved spending bills, as has become routine. The government would continue operating at last fiscal year’s level, saving the taxpayers billions of dollars.