The Senate may soon consider a proposal by Senator Rob Portman to provide for an automatic continuing resolution (CR), which would extend funding at the prior year’s level, whenever the President and Congress fail to enact full-year or temporary funding for a fiscal year.

The partial government shutdown that ended January 25 imposed substantial costs on individuals and families in general and federal employees in particular, and it has heightened interest in finding a way to avoid future shutdowns.

But an automatic CR raises significant concerns and would cause serious problems of its own, undermining sound budgeting and diminishing Congress’ role in setting national priorities.

Most important among these problems, it likely would significantly increase the instances in which the previous year’s appropriation levels and priorities remain in place for a year or more while pressing, new needs go unattended and areas that no longer need as much funding are overfunded.