Government Reopens
Good Reads: Investments in Black History Museums | Canadian Visitation Continues to Drop | NC Leaders Call for FEMA Reform | America 250's America's Field Trip Contest
Yesterday, the House approved a bill to re-open the federal government and fund the government through January 30, 2026. President Trump quickly signed the bill and today federal workers started to return to the office. After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in history, the re-opening feels somewhat listless, but the bill does have a few important provisions:
The bill requires all federal employees receive their full pay for the shutdown period. There is some continuing anxiety over all long it will take to pay the federal workers but the checks are expected to arrive next week.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) sponsored a provision to reverse the layoffs of more than 4,000 federal employees and halt any further RIFs of federal workers while operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR). That is very good news for our federal partners at the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies. Tourism leaders from Alabama and Virginia are encouraged to send thank you letters to Sen. Britt and Kaine. Their amendment not only maintains staffing levels for key agencies, such as the National Park Service, but it represents a step towards returning to regular order on funding and staffing issues.
The bill provides for reimbursement of “states and other grantees” that kept National Parks and other public lands sites open during the shutdown. It is not clear whether “other grantees” includes Friends groups and I hope to clarity on that shortly.
Congress now has two and a half months to complete work on the 12 appropriations bills that fund the government. Currently, the programs that tourism communities rely on have fared better under the Senate bill but expect that it’s going to take work to get these bills over the finish line. I will be sending action alerts.
If Congress is not able to complete work on all 12 appropriations bills, there could be another government shutdown for the agencies that do not have their FY26 funding authorized but the more likely scenario is that Congress is pass a CR for the remainder of the year. The would allow those agencies to operate at current funding levels and Congress to being work on the FY27 budget.
Enjoy Thanksgiving and know that we will have work to do!
Good Reads
The government may have been shutdown but important work continued. I am sharing articles to keep you up to date on what is going on in the tourism arena.
The Washington Post has a terrific article on Republicans invest in Black history museums to boost tourism despite Trump.
The New York Times reports on the continuing drop in Canadian tourism as documented by the Canadian statistics office and the evolving Canadian sentiment towards travel to the U.S. in Canada-U.S. Travel Drops for 10th Month Amid Trump Tariff Tensions.
As North Carolina communities continue to struggle with rebuilding from Hurricane Helene and are still waiting on federal aid, lawmakers, scientists, and local leaders met at the annual WATERS summit to discuss how to make communities more resilient to flooding and future storms. WRAL News covered the discussion in North Carolina leaders call for FEMA reform, faster disaster recovery.
American 250 Kicks Off Expanded “America’s Field Trip” Student Contest with More Award Recipients and Behind-the-Scenes Experiences to Celebrate the Nation’s 250th. The contest is for students in grades 3-12. The submission deadline is March 30, 2026.