It is Day 24 of the new fiscal year—and Congressional leaders have not yet completed legislation to fully fund FY 2020 spending bills before the Continuing Resolution (CR) that continues to fund government programs at FY 2019 funding levels expires on November 21.

Senate leaders have indicated plans to ramp up work and move the appropriations process forward by taking up a package of four spending bills that combines Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD bills, although nothing has been introduced yet. The Senate Appropriations Committee will need to finish work on the remaining seven bills and then reconcile all 12 of its bills with the House approved bills before the November 21 deadline.

It is very likely that another CR will be needed to avert a government shutdown before Thanksgiving, with experts believing this 2nd CR would last until shortly before Congress’s winter holiday recess. This additional CR would give House and Senate appropriators much needed time to continue their negotiations while much of their time and political energy is spent dealing with impeachment proceedings, the upcoming  2020 elections, and continuing drama surrounding President Trump’s border wall.

Time is quickly running out. AIDS United urges Congress to work speedily in a bipartisan manner to secure meaningful, sustained funding growth in their final spending package for critical programs that impact the health and well-being of people living with HIV. AIDS United has developed a Call to Action so you can tell Congress to prioritize spending on ending the HIV epidemic.