Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is among a group of senators that met through the weekend to put together a continuing resolution that would fund the federal government through Feb. 8.
“Republicans as well as Democrats, all of whom are committed to getting to a solution - that is a powerful voting bloc in the Senate,” Collins says.
Collins says she has hosted the 25 members of the Common Sense Coalition in her office to work on the details of the plan. It calls for action on separate issues, such as immigration, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and defense spending in the three weeks the short-term spending measure is in effect.
“The most important thing is that we have government reopen and continue the negotiations on the budget caps," she says, "which will give the military and some of our domestic programs, like opioid funding, the money that is needed.”
Meanwhile, the effects of the shutdown are starting to be felt in Maine. Acadia National Park has only minimal staff working and 500 dual status technicians in the Maine National Guard in Augusta and Bangor have been furloughed.
A key procedural vote in the Senate is expected very soon on the continuing resolution.
