Colorado approves last-minute funding for food assistance ahead of government shutdown
Colorado lawmakers Tuesday approved $7.5 million in funding to pay for a nutritional assistance program in October if the federal government shuts down.
The government was barreling towards that shutdown on Tuesday afternoon as Congress failed to reach a deal to pass a short-term funding agreement. The federal government will begin shutting down Wednesday, the start of a news federal fiscal year, if a bill isn’t passed.
That will affect an array of government programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. The program is a federal grant program appropriated annually by Congress. Since Wednesday is the start of a new fiscal year, WIC will not have received any federal funds in the case of a shutdown.
“WIC serves more than 100,000 Coloradans each month, and is a vital lifeline for women, infants, and young children. A lapse in service could have severe consequences,” Governor Jared Polis wrote in a letter to Senator Jeff Bridges, a Democrat who is chair of the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee.
The JBC will allow $7.5 million in general fund money to backfill WIC benefits in the state, with the expectation that the state will then eventually seek reimbursement from the federal government.
The JBC delayed a vote on the funding request from last week due to questions over whether it met interim supplemental requirements. The “unforeseen circumstance” that would allow such a request when the Legislature isn’t in session — in this case, a government shutdown — had not happened yet.
“Given the frequency of averting a government shutdown at the last minute, the Office of Legislative Legal Services does not believe that a federal government shutdown is objectively certain to occur on October 1 of this year,” a JBC staff document about the request reads.
Nonpartisan staff also raised concerns about the absence of clear statutory authority for the state to use its own money for WIC benefits. They noted, however, that there also isn’t a prohibition on it.
The money will only be used if there is a shutdown.
The JBC also gave permission for bill drafters to write legislation that would clarify spending authority and processes for funding during future government shutdowns.
