Next week, on September 10, Congress returns for a short 8 day session. During this time they are expected to focus on enacting a bipartisan spending agreement, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), in order to avoid a government shutdown as the federal budget begins October 1st—leaving other significant legislative issues for the post-election lame-duck session. After the brief session, Congress will recess until after the November elections.

This summer, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that congressional leaders had reached a deal to adopt a stop-gap spending bill that will fund the government through the first quarter of 2013. So they are expected to be able to resolve that relatively quickly upon their return. This will mean that after the election, Congress will have the task of determining what to do about the expiration of the federal tax cuts as well as the automatic spending cuts that are slated to go into effect at the start of 2013 – otherwise known as the “fiscal cliff.”

The League has been calling on Congress to use a balanced approach to resolving this crisis. We urge members to continue spreading that message as Congressional members are home campaigning this fall.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at (517) 908-0301 or [email protected].