WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted for a short-term budget in order to prevent the federal government from shutting down.

The continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating until a compromise can be reached on a year-long funding bill was passed by a 335-91 vote margin.

It would prevent a looming government-wide shutdown and gives the House, Senate, and White House more time to reach an agreement on a long-term funding bill.

North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways & Means, voted for the bill, voted in favor of the continuing resolution.

“Unless Congress and the president come together to pass a short-term spending bill, crucial services and programs the American people rely on will come to a halt,” he said in a statement issued by his office.

“Given the potential impact on working families in my community and across our country, a shutdown is simply not an acceptable option,” he said. “This legislation gives both sides more time to hash out their differences and come up with a longer-term solution that’s thoughtful and fiscally responsible.”

The continuing resolution contains funding to allow government agencies and programs to continue operating through March 18 – extending the deadline from March 4 – and reduces spending by $4 billion.

On Feb. 19 Thompson had cast his vote against HR 1, which would have funded the federal government through the end of this year, calling the budget proposal “irresponsible.”

He said it included irresponsible cuts that would hurt working families in Northern California and across the country, and would have resulted in more than 800,000 lost jobs in both the public and private sector.

Cuts in that bill included defunding federal salmon protections, stripping $1.7 billion from the Social Security Administration, cutting $1.3 billion in funding for community health centers, reducing the maximum Pell Grant scholarship award and eliminating Title X, the nation’s family planning program, and federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .