Joint Statement from Senate President Soucy & House Speaker Shurtleff Announcing the Exploration

CONCORD—Today, Senate President, Donna Soucy (D-Manchester) and House Speaker, Steve Shurtleff (D-Penacook) released the following joint statement addressing the continued impact of the federal government shutdown on New Hampshire working families:

“As the shutdown hits day 31, the House and Senate Leadership are jointly announcing that we have begun exploring emergency legislation that allows the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security to issue unemployment benefits to furloughed federal workers. We are also exploring the possibility of using surplus state funds to supplement the lost funding for critical federal programs. We urge President Trump to work with our federal delegation and we applaud our delegation's continued efforts to reopen the Government. We will not let Granite Staters suffer because of the President’s ill-advised and uncompromising position on the border wall.”