A federal government shutdown would have a deep and devastating impact on Connecticut, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy said on a conference call with the media on Friday.
“If you are concerned about the normal functioning of lives, IRS refunds as well as social security checks, you should be concerned about this shutdown,” Blumenthal said.
A shutdown would not only result in about 8,000 federal workers in Connecticut going without pay, it would affect the defense industry which is a big part of the state’s economy, and many state residents.
Murphy said the shutdown would also immediately affect programs utilized by about 50,000 Connecticut residents including about 5,000 families with children in the federally subsidized Head Start program.
“So that's going to put a whole bunch of low-income families in Connecticut in an awful position. So there is no reason to shut the government down," he said.
A shutdown could be avoided if the House takes up a Senate bill that has bipartisan support, but the two senators said they doubt that would happen before this weekend’s deadline.
