No Threat of Shutdown Imminent

If Congress doesn’t pass the needed appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year next Tuesday-which now appears a certainty-it will have to resort to a “continuing resolution” to provide needed funds for the meantime. Plans are being drafted for what could be the first of a series of such stopgap measures that could extend into a lame-duck session after the November elections, although some in Congress still hold out hopes of finishing work for the year around Columbus Day. Another option would be to enact a resolution lasting into early 2003, although that would require the new Congress to deal with the same issues. Capitol Hill officials say that neither party wants to risk government shutdowns such as those that occurred several times in past years when the budget battles continued right up to and beyond the start of a new fiscal year.