• • CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

This week in Washington, lawmakers scrambled to wrap up a year-end spending deal, and a consequential rule on SNAP was finalized.

Spending Deal

Appropriators have two weeks to pass a longer term spending package to avoid the need of another stopgap funding mechanism. If neither of the options are met, there will be a government shutdown ahead of Christmas.

One of the thorniest issues that appropriators recently overcame was how the $1.37 trillion in overall funding would be distributed among the 12 appropriations bills. Reaching this agreement allowed subcommittee chairs and ranking members the opportunity to set levels for each of the programs within their committees' purviews. The glaring omission from this agreement was a bipartisan solution for a border wall.

Another question that looms is whether the 12 appropriation bills will be passed as one large agreed-upon measure, or in multiple mini-funding packages with each one receiving separate consideration. Some Democrats have signaled their desire to have a grand bargain that passes all 12 bills at once. This method, sometimes called an omnibus, is more difficult to achieve since everything must be agreed upon before the vote.

If lawmakers are able to pull this off then it would avoid any kind of government shutdown, but if this fails, a full government shutdown could result. Last year, lawmakers used the piecemeal approach, known as minibuses, to pass many of the less contentious bills. The more contentious bills failed to pass and led to a partial government shutdown.

There are indications on the Hill that negotiations are set to continue throughout this weekend with hopes of reaching a deal before the start of next week. If a deal is not brokered at that time, lawmakers will not have enough time to write the bills and pass them through both chambers before the holidays.

SNAP Rule Finalized

Earlier this week, President Trump's administration announced they had finalized a rule to tighten criteria for states to access waivers for certain SNAP recipients. The rule applies to Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, also known as ABAWDs. Previously, states were eligible to waive the three-month work requirement during a three-year period to extend benefits beyond that time frame to deal with economic uncertainty within states. The new rule sets a minimum 6% unemployment standard for a county to receive a waiver. The new rule is set to take effect on April 1, 2020, with USDA officials estimating that the rule will remove 688,000 from SNAP benefits.

Catholic Charities USA has spoken out against the changes on multiple occasions, most recently in December of 2018. CCUSA noted that these state waivers respect subsidiarity and allow for a more localized response to those in need. You can read the full statement here.


Faith and the Common Good

Jean D. Johnstone, Executive Director of Catholic Charities, Inc. in Altoona, Pennsylvania correctly identified Saint Nicholas as the saint whose name means "victor of people."

Saint Nicholas whose feast day is celebrated today, December 6th was also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor during the time of the Roman Empire.  Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, children, brewers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe.

Saint Nicholas's compassion for the poor and marginalized and, in particular, children, by providing aid anonymously to those in greatest need, became so legendary that it never faded over the centuries, but inspired others, and was imitated, especially around Christmas time in many countries. His reputation evolved among the faithful and his habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus ("Saint Nick") through Sinterklaas.  The Dutch brought Sinterklaas with them to North America in 1621 when they founded New Amsterdam on the tip of present day Manhattan, New York. English speaking settlers later corrupted the name, which evolved into "Santa Claus."

A Prayer to Saint Nicholas of Myra

O good St. Nicholas,
you who are the joy of the children,
put in my heart the spirit of childhood,
which the gospel speaks, and teach me to seed happiness around me.
You, whose feast prepares us for Christmas,
open my faith to the mystery of God made man.
You good bishop and shepherd,
help me to find my place in the Church
and inspire the Church to be faithful to the Gospel.
O good Saint Nicholas, patron of children, sailors and the helpless,
watch over those who pray to Jesus, your Lord and theirs,
as well as over those who humble themselves before you.
Bring us all in reverence to the Holy Child of Bethlehem,
when true joy and peace are found.
Amen.

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