Ben Miksch, State and Federal Policy Associate

Don't believe the hype -- members of Congress are not taking a long vacation right now. The August recess, which is a five-week period when Congress doesn't have meetings or votes, is more accurately referred to as the August District Work Period. Members of Congress aren't in D.C., but they are back home in their districts, talking to voters and advocates about the most important issues of the day.

And boy, is there a lot to talk about right now!

In my last blog post, I included a last-minute update that the House Transportation, Housing & Urban Development Appropriations (THUD) bill had been pulled from the floor when House leadership decided they didn't have enough votes for passage. Shortly after that update, Senate Republicans (with one exception) started pulling their support of the Senate's version of the THUD bill, leading to the Senate bill collapsing less than 24-hours later. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has the full scoop here.

When Congress returns in early September, they will have three weeks to pass a budget before the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1. Failing to pass anything by October 1 would cause a government shutdown, which continues to be wielded as a threat in budget negotiations.

Anyone who tells you they know what's going to happen after Labor Day is not telling you the truth. The 2013 sequestration cuts, which are already costing people their housing and taking away services that reduce homelessness, will be made even worse if a budget agreement for 2014 leaves sequestration in place for another year. The debt ceiling is also looming, and will need to be addressed soon. This Politico article has more information on the coming debt ceiling storm. One likely scenario is that Congress may pass a short-term continuing resolution, like they did last year, to give themselves some extra time to negotiate on a bigger budget agreement.

In the meantime, this is a great opportunity to talk to your legislators about all of these issues in person! A lot of legislative staff come back from D.C. during August as well and are available for meetings and interested in taking tours.

Please let me know if I can be of any assistance helping you get those meetings set up or get prepared for a meeting you've already scheduled! Just send me an email at benm(@)wliha(dot)org.

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