The buzz on Capitol Hill this month can be summed up in one word: shutdown.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D.-Md., doesn't seem to be taking any chances, introducing a bill on Sept. 15 providing potential back pay for federal employees in the event of a shutdown.

Related: 6 things to know if the government shuts down

The Federal Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2015 would authorize Congress to pay furloughed federal employees as soon as the government reopens following a shutdown, that is, if there is a shutdown.

Congress has until Sept. 30 to fund the government for FY2016, but a brewing fight over the funding of Planned Parenthood, has at least 28 Republican congressmen pledging to vote against federal appropriations.

Cardin; alongside senators Barbara Mikulski, D.-Md., Mark Warner, D.-Va., Tim Kaine, D.-Va., Tom Carper, D.-De., and six others; sponsored the bill, which also so-called "excepted employees", those required to come to work during a shutdown, to take leave while the government is closed.

National Treasury Employees Union president Tony Reardon said, in a statement,

"Sen. Cardin's proposal would treat federal employees fairly in the event of a government shutdown. Employees who are furloughed or forced to work without pay during a shutdown shouldn't be punished because they didn't create the problem," he said.

The last shutdown was in 2013, when a fight over funding the Affordable Care Act closed the government for 16 days. Congress authorized back pay on Oct. 5, 2013, in the midst of the shutdown. Federal employees were compensated for their furlough days once the government re-opened on Oct. 17.

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