A continuing resolution (CR) is what Congress does when it can't reach agreement on appropriations. CRs allow agencies to continue spending money at the same rate as in the previous fiscal year. The alternative to a CR is a government shutdown. It looks like there will be a new CR coming up soon. Great new, right? We'll avoid a government shutdown! Actually, while a government shutdown is definitely a bad thing, CRs are worse for Social Security. Without a new appropriation, the agency has little money to spend on overtime and new hires. Backlogs get worse and worse. The damage is minor if the CR is only short term. However, we're already more than a third of the way through the federal fiscal year and there's still no agreement on appropriations. You can blame it on the Republican "rule or ruin" strategy. It's becoming more likely that we'll see a full year CR, which would be disastrous for Social Security. With field offices likely to open soon, the agency will need to spend a lot of money on overtime but it won't have the money.
Watch out for the length of the CR. If it's short, say a week or two, maybe they're getting closer to an agreement. If it's long, say a month or longer, maybe we're in for a full year CR.
Update: There's a report out this morning that the CR may be for three weeks, until March 11. The end of March would be halfway through the federal fiscal year.
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