# 119-s-3168: Shutdown Fairness Act

119-s-3168, Shutdown Fairness Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI] (R-WI); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-05-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3168
- As of: 2026-05-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3168
- Congress: 119
- Title: Shutdown Fairness Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-11-09
- Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI] (R-WI)
- Cosponsors: 8
- Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-05-01

## Summary

**Guarantees pay during funding lapses by creating a dedicated Treasury funding stream to pay federal employees, contractor employees, and members of the Armed Forces.** It would define who qualifies, limit how the money is used, and require covered people to perform their usual duties to the maximum extent practicable during a lapse. - Federal employees: Agencies would provide standard pay, allowances, and benefits to covered employees who worked any time from October 1, 2025 through enactment. Agencies must make retroactive payments as soon as practicable but no later than 7 days after enactment, and for future lapses pay on regular pay dates. - Contractor employees: Funding would pay covered contract employees who were on a contractor's payroll before a lapse and were required to work during the lapse. The bill treats contractors at any tier as eligible for coverage. - Members of the Armed Forces: Active duty members and reservists who perform active service or inactive duty training during a lapse are included as covered individuals. - Agency limits and accounting: Funds must be used only to compensate covered individuals, may not be obligated during periods of continuing appropriations, and must be charged to the applicable appropriation when that appropriation is later enacted.

## Cosponsors (8)

- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR), 2025-11-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-11-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2025-11-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-11-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK), 2025-11-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-11-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY] (R-KY), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2026-04-29T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Keep pay flowing during shutdowns: benefit, high. If enacted, federal employees, certain contractor workers, and service members would keep getting their regular pay during a government funding lapse. The bill would apply retroactively as if passed on September 30, 2025 and start for fiscal year 2026 and after. For Oct 1, 2025 through enactment, a…
- Government chargeback of shutdown pay: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would require that amounts the government spends to pay covered workers during a lapse be charged to the agency's later enacted appropriation. In other words, Treasury pays first and the agency's future appropriations would be charged later. This is an accounting rule and would…

## Related bills

- 119-s-3752: SAVE America Act
- 119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-s-9: Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025
- 119-s-128: SAVE Act
- 119-s-5: Laken Riley Act
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.

## Sources
- [119-s-3168 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3168)

## Related
- [119-s-3752: SAVE America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3752)
- [119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-6)
- [119-s-9: Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-9)
- [119-s-128: SAVE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-128)
- [119-s-5: Laken Riley Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3168 (as of 2026-05-01).