As Congress struggles to find consensus in Washington, failure to do so could have impacts in the Commonwealth.
President Barack Obama walks to the podium to speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington after meeting with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., regarding the budget and possible government shutdown Thursday, April 7, 2011.With just hours left on the clock, Congressional Republicans and Democrats are still wrestling over the federal budget before it expires at midnight Friday.
The Associated Press provides a run-down of how a failure to reach consensus by deadline would affect Americans.
U.S. Representative John Olver, D-Amherst, also released a list of frequently asked questions regarding a possible government shutdown.
Olver, who said in a statement that the possibility of a shutdown was "completely unacceptable," nevertheless acknowledged the "probability that the government will shut down when the current temporary budget expires at midnight." His FAQ outlined which services would continue:
Services that are deemed essential for the safety of human life and the protection of property will continue. This includes the armed forces, border patrol, law enforcement, fire fighting, and federal workers who provide medical care on the job. The Postal Service and the Federal Reserve, which are both self-funded, will also continue to operate. Read more »
The Boston Globe reports that there are 65,000 federal employees in the Commonwealth, and as many as 25 percent of them could be impacted. The Associated Press reports that would impact historical sights, and that Gov. Deval Patrick expressed concern for a number of federally-supported programs in the state.
"We're very concerned about the support for students who get federal aid for college, federal support of infrastructure, the continued flow of Medicaid dollars for MassHealth programs," Patrick said.
Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto tells WBUR in Boston that his office is communicating with the office of U.S. Sen. John Kerry. Kerry, who called the stalemate "disgraceful," held a conference call with Massachusetts mayors and municipal leaders in advance of the shutdown.
The latest AP report sets the proposed spending cuts agreed upon by Congressional Republicans and the White House and Democrats at $38 billion, but leaders are still debating where those cuts will come from.
President Barack Obama said Thursday that the steps toward a government shutdown were already in progress.