While talks between House and Senate budget conferees continue, the National Association of Counties (NACo) has held numerous meetings to stress the importance of county priorities in budget discussions. Priorities include the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds and potential changes to Medicaid.

Budget conferees have been tasked with reaching a budget agreement by December 13.  However, discussions are moving very slowly.  From the NACo article:

House and Senate appropriators are growing concerned at the slow pace of negotiations. On November 18, House Appropriations Committee Chair Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and all 12 appropriations subcommittee chairs sent a letter to budget conferees, asking them to decide on FY2014 spending levels as soon as possible. The letter warns that if an agreement on the budget is not reached in the first few days of December, appropriators may not have sufficient time to conduct the appropriations process before the January 15 deadline, when the current CR expires.