A new report published by the Center for American Progress this week highlights the grave harms federal workers are enduring under President Trump’s meaningless government shutdown. The report focuses on seven key states represented by Republican Senators up for reelection in 2020: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, and North Carolina.
ThinkProgress: Trump’s shutdown is harming thousands of people in these 7 states
By Rebekah Entralgo and Josh Israel | January 8, 2019
- Alaska: “About 5,300 federal employees in Alaska are furloughed or working without pay — including 2,500 Interior Department employees, 1,100 Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration employees at the state’s 27 commercial airports, and 900 Department of Agriculture employees.”
“The state’s 230 Native tribes — an estimated 110,000 indigenous Alaskans — are particularly imperiled by the partial shutdown.”
“Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said in December that the shutdown was ‘disappointing,’ but has not publicly broken with McConnell and Trump.”
- Arizona: “Seven thousand and three hundred federal employees in Arizona, over half of whom work for the Interior Department, are either furloughed or working without pay during the shutdown.”
“The 300,000 indigenous Americans living in Arizona are uniquely harmed by the shutdown.”
“Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) has not publicly broken from Trump and McConnell.”
- Colorado: “About 15,700 federal employees in Colorado are currently furloughed or working without pay due to Trump’s shutdown — 6,500 of whom work for the Interior Department, including the National Park Service, which supports the state’s 16 national parks, monuments, and trails. The shutdown is expected to cost Colorado’s outdoor economy nearly $2 million per day.”
“Three thousand and six hundred Department of Agriculture employees at offices like the Farm Service Agency in Denver are not working…The shutdown could stymie the economic boom Coloradans were anticipating from hemp legalization.”
- Iowa: “Two thousand and six hundred federal employees in Iowa are furloughed or working without pay during the government shutdown. Most of them — approximately 1,800 people — are employed at various agencies funded by the Department of Agriculture.”
“A partial federal government shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time for Iowa, as the state is still grappling with the effects of the president’s trade war, which could wind up costing the state’s economy nearly $2.2 billion thanks to retaliatory tariffs from countries like China.”
“Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said in December that she does not support a government shutdown, but does believe that ‘we need to secure the border.’
- Kentucky: “More than 6,000 federal government employees in Kentucky are furloughed or working without pay. That includes more than 1,000 Department of Agriculture employees and 850 Bureau of Prison employees at the state’s two penitentiaries and federal correctional institutions.”
“McConnell has continued to do the bidding of President Donald Trump by refusing to take up any legislation that does not include $5 billion for a border wall. After the new Democratic-controlled House passed a spending bill last week without funding for the wall, McConnell refused to introduce the bill in the Senate.”
- Maine: “About 1,000 federal employees are furloughed or working without pay in Maine. The state’s organic agriculture industry could be hit hard by the closures of the Farm Service Agency in Bangor and 16 county offices. The NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and two enforcement field offices, as well as the Fish & Wildlife Service’s Craig Brook and Green Lake National Fish Hatcheries, are also vital to the nation’s seafood supply.”
- North Carolina: “About 7,000 federal employees in North Carolina are working without pay or are currently furloughed due to the shutdown. Considering that 1,900 of them are Department of Agriculture employees, the shutdown could have severe ramifications for the state’s 50,000 agricultural operations and facilitating programs under the just-passed Farm Bill.”
“Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) wrote in an op-ed last week that he hopes to see a compromise that includes border security and protections for DACA beneficiaries, but has not publicly broken with McConnell and Trump.”
Read the full story here.
Read the full report here.
Published: Jan 9, 2019