“The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is relieved and thankful that Congress has taken bipartisan action to reopen the federal government,” Karen Young, the Council’s Board of Directors chairwoman said today. “We strongly support lawmakers on both sides of the recent impasse who understand that a shutdown – which caused irreparable harm to our local and national economy - should not occur again.”

“The Council also applauds the decision to grant the District of Columbia autonomy over its own budget through this fiscal year, and would support that measure as a permanent change,” she added.

Last week, the Council of Governments wrote to the region’s representatives in Congress calling on them to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the federal government. Yesterday, the elected leaders of the area’s four largest jurisdictions, the District of Columbia, Fairfax County, VA, and Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, met to discuss the local impact of the shutdown. A regional
economist estimated the government’s closure had an economic impact of more than $200 million a day on the region.