Greetings from Washington—here are my highs and lows this week!
My high was introducing three bipartisan bills that are important for Utah’s economy:
- The first supports innovation in aviation. It paves the way for Utah to be the leader of what I would call “Uber aircraft,” where you can catch an airplane like you would an Uber.
- The second is a no-nonsense bill that moves federal permitting to electronic systems instead of a paper system. Sounds like a no-brainer, I know.
- And the third strengthens internships and apprenticeship programs to help our small businesses.
My low for the week, once again, is our budgeting conundrums. Uncharacteristically, Congress actually did 95% of our budgeting responsibility, and now we’re down to the last percentage that’s not funded and will shut down.
So, this is very different from a normal shutdown. Most of the agencies impacted, like the TSA, are deemed essential and they’ll remain operational and it will be a little bit of time before the pressure builds up. I don’t think you’re going to feel this like you feel the other shutdowns. As soon as a deal is reached, the Senate will vote to resolve the lapse.
I hope you all are well have a great weekend.