*The information below was provided by NACo as of June 1*
After several rounds of negotiations, the White House and U.S. House Republican leadership reached an agreement to address the debt limit and cap spending. The bill, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) (H.R. 3746), would suspend the debt ceiling through January 1, 2025, effectively increasing the amount of money that the federal government can borrow to fund federal programs.
Yesterday, May 31, the House passed the bill by a vote of 314-117. The legislation now heads to the Senate where it must be cleared and become law before Monday, June 5, the day the government would default on its debt.
Counties applaud our federal partners for reaching a bipartisan agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling. While this is a significant move that will provide much-needed certainty to counties, there are a handful of provisions of relevance to local leaders including spending cuts, permitting reform, implementing new work requirements for certain federal public assistance programs and reinstating federal student loan payments.