Government shutdowns are a choice. Here is how to end them.

Almost every year, bureaucrats in Washington threaten to choose politics over good governance, wastefulness over responsible stewardship, and their own interest over the wellbeing of American families.

These are just a couple of the things that government shutdowns create, and that only worsen as the shutdown extends, but it doesn’t need to be this way. In fact, it hasn’t been this way for most of our history.

Before 1980, government shutdowns did not exist. During the Carter presidency, federal agencies stopped operating under existing funding during budget negotiations, ending the previous practice of assuming they would be reimbursed once a new budget was passed — creating the modern-day government shutdown.

Since the year 2000, we’ve already had five government shutdowns, with the longest one lasting 35 days. And now that we’re embroiled in one once again, it’s finally time that we put an end to these harmful government shutdowns that threaten the stability of our economy every year.

Government shutdowns hurt everyone.

The negative effects of government shutdowns go beyond just the halting of government services and missing paychecks for essential government workers.

Downstream from longer lines at the DMV and closed national parks, entrepreneurs cannot apply for small business loans from the government and even already approved loans are often delayed.

The truth is that our economy runs on stability, and no one is more affected by this than vulnerable small businesses. Latino-owned small businesses are one of the fastest-growing segments of U.S. entrepreneurship and economic instability threatens their ability to expand, hire, and innovate.

In the long run, government shutdowns create wasteful spending by encouraging behind-the-scenes dealings to minimize interest group complaints that little by little added up to massive increases in our national deficit.

The last spending bill that passed after a government shutdown in 2018 was a 5,593 paged behemoth omnibus bill that sneaked in several unnecessary subsidies.

Additionally, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2018 government shutdown cost the economy an estimated $11 billion in economic activity, including $3 billion which were permanently lost even after government workers were renumerated their wages because of all the decreased economic activity a long-term shutdown creates.

At the end of the day, as concerned citizens continue to raise their voices against the effects of a government shutdown, Congress members are eventually forced to cave, not because the budget is reasonable or sustainable, but only because it’s better to stop the shutdown than keep it going.

There must be a better way.

It doesn’t have to be this way

What if I told you that there was a way to solve this issue and eliminate government shutdowns once and for all — just like it used to be before the 1980s.

This is where the Government Shutdowns Act (S. 2721/ H.R. 5130) enters the conversation. This bill would revert us to the age before government shutdowns by creating automatic continuing resolution — a type of bill that continues current budget allocation would be extended to give more time for politicians to pass reasonable appropriation bills for the following year.

This would help ensure that the services that Americans expect are able to continue at current level while also pushing Congress members to stop evading their duty.

At the same time, Congress would be forced to stay in session until it writes and enacts all the necessary appropriation bills to keep the government running. All other kinds of bills and senate nominations would be left off the table. Official travel would be suspended for all members of Congress, including their personal staff and committee staff.

If all appropriation bills are not passed by the October 1^st deadline, taxpayer-funded travel allowances and other travel reimbursements would be cut off, and mandatory quorum calls would be required daily.

Now is the time for Congress to Act

Given the severe harm government shutdowns cause to federal workers and the broader economy, there has never been a more urgent time for Congress to pass the Government Shutdowns Act.

Now is the time to act and tell Congress that we cannot take any future government shutdowns!