By Carrie L., Director of Congressional and State Relations
Hi my name is Carrie and I am the Director of Congressional and State Relations at DPC. Each month I will write about what is happening in Congress related to kidney patient issues and try to keep it interesting!
What is Congress up to this fall?
Well while you may hear in the news that Congress isn’t doing a whole lot, which is partially true, they are actually going to be tackling some tough issues that affect all of us. As Members of Congress return to Washington, DC in September, the first order of business will be to pass the continuing resolution agreed upon by Senate and House leadership and the president prior to August recess. This continuing resolution is an agreement to maintain certain funding levels for government agencies that will ensure that the federal government avoids shutting down. After this, it is likely that Congress will rather quickly adjourn to pave the way for even more campaigning!
After the elections are over, Congress will get to work on one of the biggest issues looming over all Americans – sequestration. These are mandatory cuts to government spending, half from non-discretionary defense spending and half from all other discretionary spending (including Medicare), that amount to $1.2 trillion. Yes that is trillion with a “t”. Sequestration can be avoided if Congress can develop a solution that decreases spending at similar levels. Potential solutions may still involve spending cuts, and potentially cuts to Medicare, but a compromise may also include revenue raising measures that would cancel some spending cuts.
Rest assured that we continue our outreach on sequestration and are doing all we can to prevent these cuts from affecting you and other dialysis patients!
