Recollection of assistance needed in 35-day long shutdown in 2018.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The political battle lines have been drawn in the federal government shutdown and we as Western New York taxpayers and U.S. citizens are now caught in the middle along with many federal workers.
2 On Your Side has been following some of the back and forth and also looked at how a local agency is ready to help those in need.
The federal government shutdown signs are up and so is the shutdown rhetoric from all sides and all levels of government, with no apparent surface signs of negotiation yet.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R, South Dakota) said Wednesday: “Chuck Schumer, at the behest of a bunch of liberal far-left activist groups, has walked his Democrat colleagues into a boxed canyon.”
Then U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, New York) on the floor of the Senate said, “Donald Trump and Republicans have barreled us into a shutdown because they refuse to protect Americans’ healthcare.”
On Wednesday afternoon, from the White House, Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters, “I actually don’t think it’s going to be that long of a shutdown. This is a pure guess from the Vice President of the United States because I think you already saw some evidence that moderate Democrats are cracking a little bit. They understand the fundamental ill-logic of this.”
We had a chance Wednesday to ask our state’s other Democratic senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, a direct question about her previous shutdown stance when she and Schumer felt it was a worst case option seven months ago.
2 On Your Side: Back last March, you voted to avoid a shutdown. You’re not doing it this time. Can you explain the difference?
Gillibrand: Yeah. Well, the reason why I’m voting against this budget right now is because Republicans and Trump are about to do massive tax hikes on our health care.
There again maybe be differing perspectives on that point, but a shutdown now or anytime is recognized by both sides to be painful for the public, even as they blame each other for causing it.
FeedMore Western New York is carefully watching federally sponsored nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC, which also filter through state government. Chief Information Officer Collin Bishop said, “For October, those funds to my knowledge have already been deposited. If this closure of the federal government lasts longer than the month, there could potentially be an impact with next month’s deposits.”
Then for all those now-unpaid federal workers who endured a 35-day long shutdown starting in December 2018, Bishop points out FeedMore was involved back then.
“FeedMore stepped in and was able to have some special distributions to make sure that those impacted federal employees were able to get what they needed to feed themselves and feed their families. If this is a prolonged shutdown again where federal employees are missing paychecks, we’re prepared to do something like that again,” he said.
Bishop says FeedMore WNY is also now talking with other partner safety-net agencies as they look at contingency plans if the shutdown would drag on.
