It’s been nearly a week since the United State’s government ground to a halt on Tuesday, October 1st. Democrats and Republicans in the House of Senate have yet to reach an agreement about funding for the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, and it looks like the shutdown will drag on. Nearly 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed nationwide and a large number of United States and local government operations have been put on hold. According to USA Today, a lengthy shutdown will do significant economic damage. Scary right?
Here’s how the government shutdown can effect you:
- According to the Washington Post, the Department of Education has laid off 95% of their full time staff associated with major loan programs. This means that there will be significant delays for college students expecting Pell Grants and Federal Direct Loans. As if college students didn’t have enough financial woes already…
- The Food and Drug Administration is halting a large portion of their food-safety operation. During the shutdown, mass-producing food factories will not be inspected. While the FDA will continue handling high-risk recalls, the loss of inspectors leaves room for food factories to make big mistakes.
- 401 national parks, monuments, and other public spaces, like the Grand Canyon, the National Mall, and the Statue of Liberty, have been closed. This could hinder tourism in a historically rich city like Boston. The Boston Globe writes “Officials with the National Park Service in Massachusetts say the U.S.S. Constitution at the Charlestown Navy Yard, the Bunker Hill Monument, the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill and the Old North Bridge in Concord will be among the sites affected. More than 100 park service employees in Boston could be temporarily furloughed.”
- The Center for Disease Control has furloughed its employees and will not be monitoring seasonal flu activity or conduct cross-state studies on outbreaks of diseases like Hepatitis A.
- During the extent of the shutdown, no one will oversee the national Organic Standards Program.
- A document released by the Department of Transportation states that the “employee drug testing program” will be suspended during the shutdown.
- Sexual assault investigations on college campuses will be halted. According to USA Today, “the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has stopped its current investigations of universities suspected of mishandling sexual violence cases on their campuses.”
- Classes have been canceled and academic resources cut at the five military service academies in the U.S. The Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. shut down on Tuesday and will be forced to lay off more than 1,000 midshipmen if the government doesn’t reopen within the next week. Students at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. are not able to check out library books, utilize the media lab, or visit the tutoring center during the shutdown.
Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/03/shutdown-effects-on-colleges/2915629/
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/10/furloughed_federal_workers_fur.html