October 1 Is Rapidly Approaching

     The federal fiscal year ends on September 30, only 17 days from now. No appropriation for Social Security has passed Congress. There is an urgent need for a continuing resolution (CR). The House Appropriations Committee has announced in passing that it intends to take up a government-wide CR next week. There are a couple of potential problems. First, there is little doubt that the House of Representatives will add a number of "riders" to the CR with the most important riders aimed at preventing implementation of health care reform. This could make coming to an agreement difficult. Second, while the top line number for all appropriations has been fixed by the budget agreement, there is no agreement on what individual agencies get. The House of Representatives has passed a budget resolution that would require approximately 15% cuts in the Labor-HHS appropriations, which includes Social Security. If the CR contains an across the board 15% cut in the rate at which agencies covered by the Labor-HHS CR can spend money, Social Security is in immediate trouble with dramatic furloughs inevitable. I could see Social Security shutting down for one day a week. Social Security has to fare far better than other agencies covered by the Labor-HHS appropriation or thing will start to fall apart very quickly.

   Update: And here we go with signs that there may another round of brinksmanship on the CR.