Lewis To Lead Working Group on Federal Government Shutdown

A release from the office of State Senator Jason Lewis:

BOSTON, MA – Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland) joined with Senator Bruce E.
Tarr (R-Gloucester) on Thursday to announce a seven-member, bipartisan working group to
examine the challenges facing the Commonwealth in light of the federal government shutdown,
as well as to develop creative ways to help those Massachusetts families impacted.

“I don’t think anybody expected that the federal government could be shut down for this long or that we could be facing such serious consequences for so many families and small businesses, not to mention impacts on public health and safety,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “We all hope that this shutdown will end very soon but in the meantime we must assess the harmful impacts on Massachusetts and what steps our state government can take immediately to help mitigate these impacts.”

Working group members will examine ways to help struggling families and individuals find
relief and meet their basic needs, including groceries, housing and childcare. It will also evaluate
proposals designed to extend unemployment insurance (UI), as well as attempt to assess coming
challenges to the Commonwealth if the shutdown continues.

The working group, which will be chaired by Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester), consists
of Senator Michael D. Brady (D-Brockton), Joanne M. Comerford (D-Northampton), Viriato
deMacedo (R-Plymouth), Donald F. Humason Jr. (R-Westfield), Senator Patricia D. Jehlen (D-
Somerville), and Senator Michael O. Moore (D-Millbury).

Nearly 8,000 federal workers in Massachusetts have been out of work since the government
shutdown began on December 22, 2018. The shutdown is the longest in U.S. history.