Temporary solution found for extended government shutdown

After a 35-day partial government shutdown, the federal government reopened on Jan. 25.  In Congress, a three-week agreement was made to open the government in full until Feb. 15.  No money was acquired by President Trump to fund the wall at the southern border, a cause that ignited the shutdown problem.

Approximately 380,000 government employees were furloughed, and 420,000 were expected to show up to work without getting paid.  While most of these employees will receive back pay after missing one check, for some workers who are living paycheck-to-paycheck, missing one can severely impact their health and quality of life.

This government shutdown, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, cost the U.S. economy $11 billion, or 0.05% of the annual GDP.  Permanent economic losses were estimated to be around $3 billion. Any contractors who work with the various federal agencies impacted, such as NASA, EPA, DOT, HUD, the Peace Corps, and Homeland Security, will also see their pay delayed even longer.  Some IRS employees are not showing up to work when called to, indicating that tax returns will also be delayed this fiscal year.

One government entity that has acutely felt the collateral effects of the shutdown is the National Park Service. Normally, the Park Service brings in about $400,000 per day in revenue from all park lands, activities, and conservation efforts.  Thus, the shutdown cost the Park Service an estimated $6 million in fee revenue lost (perhaps more, as the shutdown ran through the holiday season, when many families visit the parks). Because of the shutdown, the same number of federal workers in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota were furloughed or asked to work without pay as those in the Greater Washington Area, according to the Washington Post.  This is due to the large number of National Parks in those states.

As Montgomery County and the rest of the Greater Washington Area recover from the shutdown, its residents are forced to bear, at least temporarily, the economic burden left in the wake of the shutdown.  The Greater Washington Board of Trade estimates that this area loses $400 million of economic activity every week that the government is shut down, totalling $2 billion lost during the partial shut down.  The Washington Post reported that in Maryland, 2% of all residents were furloughed or forced to work without pay.

Kathleen Reilly, local parent and attorney for the Board of Immigration Appeals, was devastated to hear that she could not return to work.  This shutdown “was far and away the most stressful shutdown I have lived and worked through. Not knowing when you will be paid is stressful enough, but there were other challenges of the work, including mounting caseloads that were not considered ‘essential’ that we were not allowed to work on” throughout the 35 days.  “Many thousands of hearings had to be postponed for years,” Reilly said, of the immigration law cases she receives.

Many Montgomery County workers faced both economic and workload related issues due to the government shutdown.  With an expiration on the economic compromise coming later this week, the county and the country are on edge.

Article by MoCo Student Staff Writer Lindsay Keiser of Walt Whitman High School