Kansas Republican Senator Pat RobertsAs political and media attention is focused on federal spending cuts set to take effect on March 1st, another important deadline is looming.
The current federal spending bill will expire in late March. Kansas Senator Pat Roberts says that would mean a government shutdown, which is something he wants to avoid. Roberts told a crowd in Olathe last week about the consequences of the government shutdown in the mid 1990s. He said a constituent who had favored the shutdown then tried to go to the local livestock sale barn, which was closed because there was no federal meat inspector.
If lawmakers in Washington don’t pass a budget or a continuing resolution, many parts of the federal government will shut down on March 27th.