The United States’ federal government declared a state of shutdown on Wednesday, Oct. 1 for the first time in almost seven years and this could have lingering effects for the Wayne community.
According to USA Today, about 2 million federal workers have had their pay suspended, and 1.25 million of those are still working without pay.
Jeryl Nelson, a professor in the business and economics department at WSC, said he was concerned that this government shutdown would end with a lot of federal workers being laid off.
“I think a lot of these people won’t go back to work. A lot of them will be permanently terminated,” Nelson said.
According to The New York Times, some federal departments are facing significantly higher furlough rates than others. The Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Education and Department of Commerce all had over 80% of their employees furloughed, leaving those offices practically unable to function during the shutdown.
The Department of Education was hit hard, with 87% of its employees having been furloughed, or ordered to cease work. Nelson said he thought it was concerning for the Department of Education to be missing so many employees and this should be worrying for students, faculty and staff at WSC.
“The biggest factor, from a business perspective, is stuff isn’t getting done,” Nelson said. “No one is there to pick up the phone.”
Sean Ahern, a professor of communication at WSC and the faculty advisor of the campus radio station, KWSC-FM, recounted an example of how the government shutdown can affect local organizations. Every quarter, the radio station must submit an Issues and Programs form to the Federal Communications Commission, but the website used to submit this form isn’t properly functional during the shutdown.
“I went on the website to submit it and I couldn’t,” Ahern said. “I think this is just an example of how the federal government shutdown impacts colleges and the community.”
Ahern said he was frustrated that broadcasters across the country were left to fend for themselves during the shutdown.
“This is a concern for a lot of broadcasters. Broadcasters are under a lot of scrutiny right now, but there’s not really anything we can do about it… Hiccups like this can potentially be crippling.”
Currently, banners are displayed on several government websites explaining that these sites will have limited functionality during the shutdown. Some departments, however, are using drastically different wording than others. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, the lack of updates to the website were due to ‘the Radical Left Democrat shutdown’, while the U.S. Department of Commerce simply cites ‘a lapse in federal funding.’ Some on campus are calling into question the tone of these banners.
“Honestly, it was super unprofessional,” said Aubrie Erickson, a senior at WSC who’s double majoring in sociology and human services. “It was really jarring to see a different one on different government websites. There was no professional, streamlined message or language.”
Jenny Miller, a professor of political science at WSC, said that this accusatory language used by some departments is a departure from the language used in past government shutdowns.
“There’s very much a finger-pointing situation here,” Miller said. “This is definitely a change in tone, a change in style… Websites are certainly putting forth a much more partisan message.”
“Most of it is on the executive branch websites, so that is direction that comes from the president and his leadership team,” Miller said. “Shutdowns can come to an end pretty quickly if we can find points of agreement. It sounds like, at this time, there aren’t many points of agreement.”
A more long-term effect that might harm the Wayne community should the shutdown continue is a lack of funding for local food assistance programs. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, is speculated to run out of funding within weeks if the shutdown continues and this could be debilitating for many children, not only in the Wayne area, but across the whole country.
The shutdown will have short- and long-term effects for the local Wayne community. Students who rely on federal loans will have an incredibly difficult time reaching the Department of Education. Parents who rely on support from WIC could be facing additional financial strain in an already difficult time. Broadcasters are facing technical difficulties and time crunches in a time full of contention. In addition, millions of people are still going without pay due to the shutdown.
“We need to get something done, because asking people to go without paychecks in a time where they’re feeling the economic crunch is unfair to the people who do those jobs,” Miller said. “That seems a pretty egregious failure on the behalf of our leadership, to take care of those who help to take care of our safety and security.”
