Lori Falce: Government by procrastination is no way to run a nation

Tick, tick, tick. The clock is counting down.

Down to a line drawn in the sand — the minute that the federal legislators all pack up and leave Washington for their home states. Gotta love Christmas break, right?

Except that the same thing happens every year. Something comes down to the wire. Budget negotiations. Debt ceiling debates. It never fails.

And, of course 2020, would be no different.

The Senate calendar ends Friday. And for days, the question has circled. What will happen with the stimulus bill? Oh, and yeah, the government needs to be funded to avoid a shutdown. No big deal. Just little things like that.

The $900 billion covid relief package is often shorthanded as “stimulus.” It shouldn’t be. It is much more complicated than that — a nest of $300 billion for business, $600 payments to individuals, additional unemployment and more money for things like vaccines, schools; a $300-per-week bonus federal jobless benefit and renewal of soon-to-expire state benefits; $600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds and money for renters, schools and food.

But it also has other aspects being haggled, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell demand for a liability shield that would protect businesses and other employers from covid-related lawsuits.

That isn’t new. The CARES Act was passed in March and resulted in $2 trillion in payments to individuals, loans for businesses and funding for programs. A follow-up Heroes Act passed the House of Representatives in May.

Seven months have passed and nothing else has gotten done. That probably shouldn’t come as a surprise since the government needs to be funded every single year and yet still it seems to shock lawmakers in Harrisburg and Washington every time that bill comes due.

This isn’t about whether the stimulus bill should be passed or not or what should be included in it or what should be left out. Those are important issues and there are real reasons to support or oppose different aspects. Debate over them should happen. A bill should never be passed without thought and deliberation.

But it should also not be treated like a cliche bomb scene in an action movie. We should not come down to the end of every calendar year — or other more self-imposed deadlines like the end of a temporary extension — wondering if we should cut the red wire or the blue one to stop the clock from ticking.

The negotiations on these big bills all seem more like an elementary school staring contest than a give-and take of ideas between high-powered government officials.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to end the year without the anxiety of a legislative bomb about to blow?