Statement on Senate Deal to End Government Shutdown

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County Council Vice President Will Jawando released the following statement tonight in response to the U.S. Senate’s deal to end the government shutdown:

I stand with Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks, and those voting NO on this funding bill. While I'm grateful that federal workers are one step closer towards finally receiving back pay after 41 days, this deal fails working families on healthcare—and that is unacceptable. 

For more than a month, our neighbors—federal employees who live and work right here in Montgomery County—have been forced to work without pay or sent home with no income at all. Families have struggled to put food on the table. Small businesses couldn't access the loans they needed. Parents worried about keeping the lights on. This shutdown should never have happened in the first place, and it should not have taken 41 days to resolve.

This is what happens when this White House chooses politics over people.

Back pay for federal workers is the bare minimum—it doesn't erase the immense stress and anxiety families felt while this administration played politics with their livelihoods.

But here's what's even worse: this deal fails to prevent the explosion in healthcare costs that will devastate 20 million Americans. By not extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies in this bill, Congress is allowing healthcare premiums to skyrocket—increases as high as four times what families are paying now. Trading real healthcare protections for a handshake promise of a future vote is not the leadership that working families deserve.

We need a funding bill that actually addresses the healthcare crisis, not one that kicks it down the road. We need a bill with the necessary guardrails to stop President Trump from ignoring the law and withholding funds. And we need to make sure SNAP benefits are fully restored so families can feed their children.

Montgomery County is home to tens of thousands of dedicated public servants who show up every day to serve this country. When Washington fails them, responsible state and local governments will do what they can to protect our residents—but we shouldn't be put in this position in the first place.