ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) — All eyes are on Washington, D.C. as Congress is headed for a shutdown over infrastructure spending priorities and funding to keep the government open.
Here at home, people are becoming increasingly concerned, there will be a shutdown on Friday if there is not resolution.
KTTC Political Analyst Chad Israelson says it’s important to be aware of what could happen with a possible shutdown, but right now, says there’s no need to panic yet.
“The federal fiscal year ends Thursday, which is September 30th,” Israelson said. “And if the allocation of funds is not done by that point, we might have a government shutdown.”
Israelson says we’ve had three federal government shutdowns in the past 10 years; 2013, 2018 and 2019.
So, what do we need to know about this next possible shutdown?
“Not only is the fiscal year coming to an end on September 30th, but we need to raise the debt ceiling some time in October,” Israelson said.
Israelson says these two issues are separate but because they are occurring so close together, it’s one in the same.
“It’s kind of a scary situation, you don’t know what’s going to happen really,” Rochester senior Barb Floden said.
And while republicans and democrats blame each other, Israelson says it’s the American people who are dealing with the consequences.
“When I think for the vast majority of people, if the government shutdown is relatively short, a few days, they probably aren’t going to notice it at all,” Israelson said. “If you’re planning a vacation next week to a national park, you probably want to check on Friday. Certain amenities might not be open, some parks may be closed.”
Essential federal employees may need to continue to work without being paid until the government reopens, and one Floden is concerned social security checks will be impacted.
“That’s many people my age and that’s all they’ve got to depend on,” Floden said. “And I mean, maybe they’ve got a little savings if they were wise enough to have some, but it goes in a hurry and then what’s going to happen.”
So, if lawmakers in Washington D.C. cannot reach an agreement by Midnight Thursday, a government shutdown is possible by Friday October 1st.
It will be the coming days following that deadline that American’s will find out what the shutdown will specifically impact.
Israelson says folks on Social security shouldn’t see any issues with the monthly checks this month, but
if the debt ceiling isn’t raised at some point in October, there may be a possibility of social security checks being impacted.
