Crapo: “Government Shutdown” could happen this time

Washington DC (670 KBOI) – The government runs out of money tomorrow night.  Idaho US Senator Mike Crapo says this time, there MIGHT be a “government shutdown.”

“We have a vote that will happen tonight on the floor of the House and the Senate, dealing with a four-week extension, that will extend the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) Program, and provide a stable funding base, to allow us time to finish negotiations on all of those provisions,” said Crapo.  “I expect the Republicans will generally support that, but right now, it’s sounding like the Democrats might reject it, because they want to have their DACA language included in this extension.”

But Crapo points out the term “government shutdown” is misleading…he says entitlement programs have to be funded, and they account for about 60-percent of the budget. Of the remaining 40-percent of government functions, he says most of those are funded, too. In fact, he says during the last government shutdown, about 90% of government operations never stopped.

Furthermore, he says those who are furloughed for the shutdown, get back pay once they go back to work.