The Threat of a Government Shutdown is Over—For Now—Sparing Critical Programs for Families

Congress approved a second temporary funding bill, pushing the fight over the budget into 2024.

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

Just days before the threat of a second government shutdown in as many months, Congress has approved yet another temporary funding bill that keeps the government open. But it does kick the can down the road yet again, this time until early 2024. The upside is it keeps federal workers on the job and critical programs for families and children.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill will have to take on the federal budget after January 1. This latest spending package splits the deadlines to reach a deal—the first deadline comes on January 19 for some federal agencies and February 2 for others.

This leaves families still wondering if they may lose the services they depend on.

A Shutdown Impacts Those Who Need It Most

If a shutdown happens, parents will feel a strain that many have felt before. Programs affected include those that have a disproportionate impact on parents, families, and children from low-income households. If a shutdown does happen, here is what parents need to know.

“WIC is the program that’s most directly impacted and affected adversely by a shutdown,” Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack tells Parents.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) serves well over six million participants monthly and is funded through the general budget of the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA is one of many offices that would close immediately after a federal shutdown. Vilsack says if no long-term budgeting agreement is made, “It's done. No money—No WIC.”

Vilsack adds that the Department of Agriculture may have  “a day or two” of contingency funds, but parents should expect an abrupt end to the program.

WIC provides much-needed assistance to get fresh fruits and vegetables into the hands of parents, pregnant people, those who are postpartum, babies, and children under the age of 6. A program cut-off would mean families will be left to their own resources to access nutritious and beneficial foods.

Seeking out additional support from food banks or local food assistance nonprofits may prove to be just as challenging. Food banks across the country have been resource-strapped since Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit emergency allotments were eliminated by Congress at the end of February. Families under the hardest financial strains will be facing even further challenges.

For the 41.2 million Americans currently participating in the SNAP program, they would not see their benefits impacted or affected for October, should a shutdown begin this weekend, or for November, should a shutdown begin then. The impact would begin the following month, not only directly impacting the lives of millions, but impacting the entire U.S. food supply chain.

“When you have folks who no longer can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, can no longer purchase the WIC package, that impacts and affects the grocery stores,” says Vilsack. “It impacts the supply chain that gets those items to the grocery store, it impacts the farmers who are producing those fresh fruits and vegetables,” he adds, demonstrating how widely ramifications are felt across the entire system. 

If a shutdown occurs, be it short-term or long-term, the federal government can do absolutely nothing to support families in need of food or infant formula. No substitute program kicks in should the USDA close its doors. Secretary Vilsack emphasizes the additional increased hardship for thousands of workers employed by the government and who are also program  beneficiaries, “Not only do they end up not getting the WIC benefit, they're not going to get a paycheck either.”

Other Impacts of a Government Shutdown

More than just food programs are impacted. According to a White House statement titled Eliminate Head Start Slots for Kids: Under a Republican shutdown, “10,000 children across the country would immediately lose access to Head Start,” should a shutdown occur. The exponential impacts of the loss of child care and early education access for low-income working families would grow worse the longer a shutdown runs.

Tens of thousands of federal employees could be furloughed. Other workers like air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Administration employees, and even members of the U.S. Military will be working without pay. Those families will be directly affected as well.

If a small element of the Republican party proves successful in preventing Congress from doing its work, parents of all socioeconomic classes would feel the impact of a shutdown. Just from the vantage of the USDA, Vilsack says people folks buying a home would have no one to close the loan,  families planning quality time in our country's National Parks would have no access, and tourism dollars that go into local economies would dissipate.

“Think about the same consequences for Health and Human Services, for Education, for the EPA,” Vilsack says. “A government shutdown has such a profound impact on so many people.”

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Read the original article on Parents.