Government shutdown impact on Georgia: Carter birthday celebrations altered
How a looming shutdown is impacting Georgia
Congress is creeping closer and closer to a federal government shutdown.
With no funding deal in sight and time quickly running out, Washington seems poised to run out of money to pay the government’s bills this Sunday, October 1. This could lead to Georgia’s roughly 140,000 federal employees, from active-duty service members to airport TSA officers, being forced to work without pay until funding resumes.
With a shutdown now looking likely, Georgians have lots of questions about how it might impact their day-to-day lives. Will national parks remain open? Will I still get my mail? Can I expect long lines during my next trip to Hartsfield-Jackson?
Here’s a look at how a shutdown is already impacting Georgians.
Carter birthday celebrations altered
Plans to celebrate favorite son Jimmy Carter’s birthday are being altered in the wake of the shutdown threat. Carter, the country’s 39th President and a former Georgia governor, will turn 99 years old on Sunday — the same day that the government is set to shut down.
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, which is maintained by the National Archives, says that most celebrations will now take place this Saturday, September 30 instead of Sunday.
Instead of Sunday, the library and museum is inviting visitors to come Saturday to eat birthday cake, sign a birthday card and participate in other activities, including painting and trivia games. The film “All The President’s Men” also will be shown.
The library’s director says he does not want Washington to prevent the public from honoring President Carter, who has been in hospice care since February.
National parks in limbo
The U.S. National Park Service oversees 11 sites in Georgia, from Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth home in Atlanta, to the farm in Plains where President Carter grew up and even Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield in Cobb County.
But these locations, along with hundreds of other national parks and monuments across the country, could be forced to shutter their doors Sunday morning, which could throw a wrench in things like school field trips and family vacations.
Parks have always been a casualty of shutdowns in the past. During the last one, a few of them remained open but visitors were greeted with piles of trash and unclean restrooms because most if not all park employees are government workers.
The length of the shutdown could be what ultimately determines the magnitude of its impact on national parks.
TSA lines
Hopping on a plane soon? Pack your bags — and your patience.
The shortage of air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers could get worse if the government shuts down. They are considered essential personnel and would be forced to work without pay.
Some employees told the AP that just one missed paycheck could be devastating for families struggling to make ends meet.
During the 2018-2019 shutdown, which happened right in the middle of the holiday season, hundreds of TSA officers started calling out sick at major airports, including Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson. This caused long checkpoint lines — and millions of frustrated travelers.
Service members
Roughly half of Georgia’s 140,000 federal employees are active-duty service members. They could also find themselves working without pay if the government shuts down this weekend.
That’s not all: Pentagon officials are warning that recruitment programs could be disrupted if they are forced to furlough some of their employees.
“All of this would prove disruptive to our national security and our efforts to address the critical needs of the American people,” says White House national security adviser John Kirby. “And again, the reason is these extreme House Republicans are basically turning their backs on a bipartisan budget deal that they worked out with the president, that two-thirds of them voted for just a few months ago.”
Georgia has 12 military bases, which together house nearly 70,000 active service members.
Will anything be open during the shutdown?
Yes.
Not all government offices and agencies will be closed during the shutdown. The U.S. Postal Service, for example, will continue to operate normally because they are funded through sales of the services that they provide. Revenues from mail carriage, stamps and shipping supplies fund the USPS, not the government. In other words, your mail will continue to arrive on time.
And don’t let the shutdown stop you from making that dreaded trip to the Department of Driver Services office to renew your license. Drivers’ licenses and most vehicle-related documents are issued by states, which makes the DDS a state agency, not a federal one.
Senior citizens who rely on retirement benefits and even VA benefits can also breathe a sigh of relief. Because programs like Social Security are so crucial, they are not funded through short-term spending bills like the one that is set to expire this weekend. So seniors will continue receiving these payments uninterrupted.
Roughly 67 million Americans rely on monthly Social Security payments.