With a potential government shutdown looming, Bay Area federal workers, businesses and nonprofits are bracing for the fallout.
The United States government could shut down if Democrats and Republicans can’t find a compromise that leads to a new funding bill by the end of the day Tuesday.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates a full government shutdown would trigger the furlough of about 750,000 federal employees, including nearly 190,000 federal employees in California.
“Rather that furloughing non-essential employees, paying them later when the government reopens, there’s a thought that some portion of the federal workforce will be permanently fired,” Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Ahmad Thomas said.
On Tuesday, the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing TSA agents, national park rangers and thousands of other federal workers, filed a lawsuit in San Francisco. The suit claims that if a shutdown happens, the Trump administration plans to not just furlough workers but terminate tens of thousands outright.
At Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, the food bank is wondering whether the shutdown will impact the food it receives from the USDA.
“We are anticipating an increase in demand,” Second Harvest CEO Leslie Batcho said. “We have seen this before. As soon as people lose their jobs, unexpectedly miss a paycheck because they are balancing such a tight budget, that leads them to reach out for food assistance.”
The impact of a shutdown would stretch well beyond federal workers. It could make it harder to get a passport and could shutter national parks.
And while the tech industry appears strong, a government shutdown could have an impact on innovators as well, Thomas said.
“If you have a company that might be going public and there are FCC workers that are furloughed or deemed non-essential, you might have a very major decision like that that would need to be postponed,” he said.
There are exceptions to the shutdown fallout. Those providing essential services, including air traffic controllers, TSA agents and law enforcement, will still report to work, and Social Security and Medicare checks will still be sent out.
Source: NBC Bay Area