Government shutdowns may become a thing of the past if new bipartisan legislation becomes law. The Government Shutdown Prevention Act introduces an automatic continuing resolution if a budget deal is not reached, and prevents members of Congress and high-level budget staff from leaving Washington D.C. until an agreement is on the books. Kristine Simmons, vice president of government affairs at the Partnership for Public Service, says the bill is designed to incentivize congressional cooperation.
“…It tries to reach members of the House and Senate on the thing that is most important to them, and that is time. They all value their time and there are so many commitments that they all have and focusing on this particular aspect is a unique approach and something that we think is interesting and has potential.” Simmons said. “It has passed one committee, there’s another committee it needs to clear and it also has to go to the House as a proposal. We’ll see, but there’s reason to be hopeful that with the bipartisan interest in solving this problem of government shutdowns and CRs for the long term, it seems to be gaining momentum.”
