Economy & Small Business

During the first couple weeks of July, the House Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, met for a marathon of legislative markups. Specifically, we worked through the 12 annual bills that fund the federal government. While I am always encouraged to see this critical process moving forward in Congress, the bills as written provide a false sense of accomplishment.

Just over two years ago, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law. Since then, Americans are not only getting to keep more of their hard-earned money as promised, but the economy is clearly booming as a result of the president's continual focus on pro-growth policies. Indeed, there are numerous signs that the country is better off and that the best is still ahead.

Once again, Congress is quickly approaching another critical deadline related to government funding. At this time last year when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress, more than 75 percent of annual funding had already been signed into law in record time before the start of the fiscal year. Unfortunately, now more than two months into the current fiscal year, no full-year appropriations bills have passed out of Congress or been signed into law.