Davids Statement on Bipartisan Legislation to Avoid Government Shutdown

Today, after the President signed into law legislation to avoid a government shutdown, Representative Sharice Davids released the following statement calling for further bipartisan cooperation to keep the government open in the long term. If Congress does not act before the new deadlines in early 2024, certain federal agencies will run out of funding and the government will shut down. The bill signed into law late last night includes a one-year extension of the Farm Bill, which expired on October 1, 2023.

“This bipartisan legislation averts a costly government shutdown that would have drastic consequences on Kansas families, small business owners, and our entire economy. While no bill is perfect, it also extends the Farm Bill, which expired more than a month ago and is crucial for protecting Kansas producers and the millions of people around the world they feed. Now, it's essential that we work together with Republicans and Democrats to find a commonsense solution that keeps our government open for the long term and protects Kansans’ ability to support their families.”

Background:

The legislation signed into law last night, known as a continuing resolution (CR), sets staggered expiration dates for federal government funding. Roughly 20 percent of the federal government is financed through January 19, 2024, and the remaining 80 percent until February 2, 2024. If Congress does not fully fund the government before these deadlines, the federal government will shut down.

Davids continues to push for a bipartisan agreement to keep the government open past the new 2024 deadlines set in the continuing resolution signed today. A shutdown would have serious impacts on Kansas families and the overall U.S. economy. Americans would face disruptions to important benefits, service members would not be compensated, many small businesses would have to alter their operations, and federal workers would be furloughed and go unpaid. Specifically:

• It’s estimated the five-week partial government shutdown in 2018-2019 reduced economic output by $11 billion in the following two quarters and the 2013 full government shutdown reduced GDP growth by $20 billion.
• Kansans receiving Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits would experience service delays, including disruptions to verifying benefits and the issuance of new cards.
• There are currently 19,977 federal workers in Kansas who may be furloughed. A bipartisan report found that the last three government shutdowns led to the equivalent of 56,940 years in lost productivity from federal workers.
• Small businesses may encounter delays in receiving loans from the federal government. Moody’s Analytics estimated that the 2018-2019 shutdown delayed more than $2 billion in loans to small businesses.
• The distribution of important food assistance programs, including SNAP, could be disrupted, leaving some Kansan — including women, children, and the elderly — without nutritious food.
• Travelers could face longer lines at airport security checkpoints and flight delays during a shutdown, which would also delay passport processing times even further.

As a member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Davids also continues working on a full Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. The current extension expires after December 31, 2023. Without further action from Congress, this expiration would negatively impact Kansans’ ability to support their families and contribute to the local economy.