As the federal government seems destined for a shutdown, the more than 5,000 federal employees in New Hampshire are facing the possibility of furloughs or delayed paychecks.
New Hampshire’s federal workforce ranges across the state and across industries: the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the Manchester VA Medical Center, the White Mountain National Forest, the Berlin federal prison, the passport processing center at Pease and at other federal agencies.
How the possible shutdown might affect them isn't entirely clear. Workers deemed "essential" would keep working through any shutdown without immediate pay. Non-essential workers would likely face furloughs.
A shutdown would also disrupt the end of camping season in the White Mountain National Forest just as the state is approaching the peak fall foliage season.
A lingering shutdown could carry hardship for people who depend on federal assistance programs including the Head Start program, the Special Nutrition Assistance Program, and LIHEAP, which provides assistance for home heating costs for low-income residents.
Food insecurity is high right now in the state, and the federal government already made cuts to aid programs over the summer. Impacts to future food aid will depend on the length of the government shutdown.
Laura Milliken, who leads NH Hunger Solutions, said more than 75,000 people in New Hampshire use SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps.
"If it's a short shutdown, then it should not affect SNAP benefits," she said. "Benefits are already scheduled to go out in October. But if it's a longer shutdown, it could affect the November benefits."
Milliken said school meal programs are typically unaffected by government shutdowns.
In a statement Tuesday, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said state agency heads have assured her that New Hampshire government operations should continue as normal as long as any federal shutdown lasts 30 days or less.
“Our state is prepared in the event of a federal government shutdown and expects minimal impact on services for Granite Staters in the short-term,” Ayotte said. “State agency heads have assured us that within the next 30 days, operations will continue as normal."
She said federally funded programs administered by the state — including food aid programs, and LIHEAP — will not be affected in the event of a short-term shutdown, and that state parks will remain open.
Ayotte joined other Republican governors earlier this week in urging Congress to endorse a budget extension backed by GOP leaders on Capital Hill.
Her office declined to answer questions about how the shutdown might affect the state's ability to make payroll if it were to last longer than a month.
Members of New Hampshire’s Democratic congressional delegation sought to place preemptive blame for a shutdown on Republicans.
Speaking on CNN, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said President Trump could make a deal happen and should work across the aisle to do it.
“This is the greatest country in the world,” Shaheen said. “The only thing that is keeping us from achieving these things is partisanship, and it’s time to end that, and the president has a responsibility.”
Shaheen and other Democrats want any budget extension to include tax subsidies to help people pay for health care coverage on the insurance marketplace.
(Reporting from NHPR's Kate Dario was included in this story.)
