Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, introduced the Modernizing the Federal Calendar Act, legislation to reduce the use of harmful stopgap spending bills and shutdowns by changing the annual government funding deadline from October 1 to January 1, to better align with when Congress actually passes year-long funding bills.

“During my time in the Senate, Congress has never passed year-long government funding by the October 1 deadline and instead relies on short-term stopgap funding bills to kick the can down the road,” said Kaine. “This hurts us because federal agencies aren’t able to plan for the next year, making it difficult to carry out existing federal programs and activities that millions of Americans rely on. That’s why I’m introducing a bill to reduce the prevalence of stopgap funding and eliminate the October shutdown threat by making the end of the fiscal year align with the end of the calendar year, when Congress has historically passed a full-year government funding bill. With this commonsense reform, we can provide more certainty for the American people.”

The Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 updated the start of the fiscal year from July 1 to October 1. Since then, there have only been four years where Congress has passed year-long government funding bills for all 12 appropriations bills by October 1. The last time Congress did so was for Fiscal Year 1997. This means that the government has instead operated under short-term, stopgap funding measures called continuing resolutions (CR), which typically extend funding levels for existing programs from the previous fiscal year. CRs create significant constraints and challenges for federal agencies, including delays to contracts, grants, and hiring. In addition, every October, Americans are forced to worry about a potential government shutdown if Congress can’t reach an agreement on a year-long government funding bill or CR, creating unnecessary stress and uncertainty for millions of Americans who work for or with the federal government, as well as the countless people and small businesses that are rely on government operations. While this bill would not eliminate the possibility of CRs or shutdowns, it would reduce the risk of government shutdowns in October, and reduce the time spent on CRs, and it would lead to a higher probability of completing government funding work on time.

Kaine has been a vocal proponent of reforms to make the government function more effectively. He has been outspoken about the use of government shutdowns as a negotiating tactic. In an effort to end this brinksmanship, he introduced his End Shutdowns Act, legislation to prevent government shutdowns. During the 2018-2019 shutdown—which caused about 380,000 furloughs and approximately 420,000 federal employees to keep working without pay—Kaine objected to the Senate going out of session, which resulted in him securing passage of legislation to guarantee back pay for federal employees for that and all future shutdowns.