U.S., state legislators discuss potential impact of government shut down
With the end of the fiscal year and a possible shutdown of the federal government looming, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled Senate appear to be no closer to resolving the impasse.
Over the weekend, bipartisan support of the Military Pay Protection Act, which continues funding to pay U.S. soldiers in the event of a shutdown, signalled the extent to which the House is preparing for the shuttering of most federal operations come Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa, said in a press call on Friday, “Number one, we know that a shutdown will crater our efforts to keep the economy growing.”
He released a fact sheet enumerating the possible effects of a shutdown for Pennsylvanians on Friday as well.
According to Casey, the state’s 227,000 small businesses are at risk in the event of a government shutdown, because it could result in the delay of financial support by way of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.
Casey said in 2012, the SBA approved 53,847 applications and supported 571,383 jobs, for an average of just over 1,000 applications per week.
“A shutdown would put a stop to this critical source of small business credit until the government resumes operation,” said Casey.
Additionally, Casey said a shutdown could mean 71,000 federal employees in Pennsylvania would be furloughed.
National parks are expected to close, but as of Friday, Keith Newlin, Superintendent of National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, said he couldn’t comment on possible closures of Fayette County’s two sites — Friendship Hill in Springhill Township and Fort Necessity in Wharton Township — because too much of the issue was still up in the air.
Also, although Social Security payments will still go out, Casey said processing of new applications could be delayed, and the same would be true for veterans’ benefits.
“A government shutdown could force Head Start centers around the country to close,” Casey said. In 2012, Head Start agencies served 36,955 children in Pennsylvania, he added.
Casey said most Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill agree they don’t want a shutdown. “You have a segment of the Republican Party who’s causing this,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he has tried to work toward a resolution that could achieve bipartisan support and avoid a shutdown.
In a statement released Friday, Toomey said, “All my Republican colleagues and I want to end Obamacare completely. All the Democrats support Obamacare and want it to continue. The Republicans control the House and have passed defunding legislation. Democrats control the Senate and will not pass defunding legislation. Thus, we are at an impasse.”
Toomey added, “I remain hopeful that Congress will avoid a government shutdown. I will continue working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to find a responsible solution.”
In order to keep the government running, the House and Senate must reach a compromise before midnight today. If Congress fails to pass a resolution to keep the government running, it faces another deadline in the middle of the month. Unless Congress raises its statutory debt limit before Oct. 17, the Treasury will no longer be able to borrow to meet the government’s obligations.
The House passed a continuing resolution on Sept. 20 which would extend funding at sequestration levels through mid-December, and included a measure to defund the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called Obamacare.
On Friday, the Senate passed the bill after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid included an amendment that removed the provision to defund Obamacare, and shortened the length of the continuing resolution to keep current funding through mid-November.
The lower chamber voted late Saturday night to delay the ACA, signed into law five years ago, for one more year. They also voted to repeal the medical device tax, which would have been partially responsible for funding the health care law.
U.S Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, noted Friday afternoon that although delaying Obamacare was a possibility, it wasn’t his ultimate goal.
“Some Democrats are now considering support of a delay,” said Shuster, pointing to comments made earlier by Democratic West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.
“We need to pull the plug on it all together,” he said. “It is hurting people and the economy.”
Should the continuing resolution not address the health care measure, Shuster speculated it would be a part of discussion when Congress addresses the president’s request to raise the debt ceiling in mid-October.
“I think that will be an opportunity to address several issues, such as tax reform, the Keystone Pipeline and reduce the regulatory mandates that are hurting our economy,” he said. “We need to do something positive for this economy.”
For now, it’s up to the Senate to make a determination regarding the House resolution, but Reid’s public statements indicate the Senate, which is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. today, will not pass the resolution as it currently stands..
The White House has been clear that the ACA will move forward. At a press briefing Thursday, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters, “What (President Obama) will not do is engage in an attempt by Republicans to extort from him what they could not get through the legislative process, what they could not get at the ballot box, what they could not get at the Supreme Court of the United States, and offer as an alternative to getting what they want through extortion, tanking the economy and crushing the middle class. He will not do that.”
Local legislators balked at the federal government’s inability to reach a conclusion.
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, said, “Regardless of the legislation, Obamacare or otherwise, they should not be tying it to their obligation to keep the country running.”
She called the brinkmanship “ridiculous.”
Similarly, State Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, said, “I don’t think it’s fair to shut down the government for anything. All Washington is doing is hurting the constituents.”
“They’re not even giving Obamacare a chance,” he said. “They didn’t want to give Social Security a chance either, and it’s worked.”
Mahoney said he believes Republicans have been trying to “submarine” the current administration from the start, and that the current impasse is further proof. “If it wasn’t Obamacare, it would be something else.”
“It’s got to be people over money,” Mahoney said. “We concentrate on big corporations and not people.”
The last time the federal government shutdown was in 1995 and 1996. Those two shutdowns cost the county $1.4 billion, according to the Congressional Revenue Service.