Running Head: 2013 Government Shutdown

2013 Government Shutdown History, Policies and Effects Monique Ortega Andrea Lopez Jessica Andrade University of Texas at El Paso

2013 Government Shutdown Abstract The government shutdown is no fun thing. Many people are jobless and parks close down. Our nation is affected economy wise. Federal employees go work for small paychecks and some work for free. The history behind shutdowns go way back to 1981 because President Reagan vetoed the continuing resolution. Policies behind the government shutdown do not impact severely but do on the other hand affect some portion of the people. The 2013 government shutdown occurred because Congress was not in agreement with the funds for Obamacare. Congress had the government shut down meanwhile they made an agreement on how and when

the funding will go through to pass Obamacare to American citizens. This shutdown occurred for 17 days, beginning October 1, 2013 and ending October 17, 2013. Some of the policies/laws that changed were that national parks and monuments had to close, federal workers worked without pay/got sent home, application loans were not available, and legal documentation of workers were not available. The government controls what we do and cannot do, so who are we really to discuss with them?

2013 Government Shutdown 2013 Government Shutdown In a Government Shutdown laws, Government employees, and the reasons towards a

shutdown are slightly changed but not to the extreme. The history from previous shutdowns also has some related changes to the recent shutdown. From not being able to receive the legal documentation of a legal worker to closing down the National Parks around the U.S. Most people are not affected by the shutdown, however those who are contracted by the Government are. The Government has it policies on closing down businesses, National Parks, and Monuments until the shutdown is resolved and up again.
The U.S. government has been in shutdown a total of five times before 2013s shutdown. At one time there had been two short ones in the same year, but you may ask why? There have been many reasons as to why starting from Ronald Reagan vetoing a continuing resolution, to the most recent being the disagreement between Republicans and Democrats about the spending bill for the upcoming year (Longley 2013). The main reason as to why the government has a shutdown is because each year Congress has to pass a spending bill, if Congress cannot agree or as in the time Clinton was president and vetoed the bill, Congress is not allowed to spend money nor does it have the legal authority to do so even if they wanted to. When this happens Congress uses the Continuing Resolution (CR) that can help maintain the spending levels equal for most or all of the year. However, the CR is a resolution without any policy changes or with little changes. With the CR, even if the government shutdown was in place Congress would still have to hurry and make certain decisions on how to spend the money (Longley 2013) When Congress decides to have a shutdown there is more to it than just having the Republicans and Democrats not being able to agree on a spending bill. Money has always been a major topic as to why the government goes in shutdown. In Robert Longleys article Government Shutdowns, he explains that in the past five government shutdowns all of them occurred because Congress could not decide on how to

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spend, make a budget, or decide what the money was going to be used for, for the next year. For example in 1995-1996 when Clinton was president the most serious shutdown happened due to the fact that a budget impasse between Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress over funding for Medicare, education, the environment, and the public health (2013) as Longley said. In this years 17 day long shutdown, the main issue was Obamacare. The Republicans had passed a spending bill that maintained the spending levels, but did not include the funds to implement Obamacare. Without a decision being made by midnight on the date for the deadline, the next morning workers that are employed by the Government would most likely be sent home after four hours of the shutdown being in effect. This years shutdown put 800,000 government employed workers on furlough for at least 5 days max. Some were sent home without pay and others were still working but for free because they were essential. Although there are other reasons as to having a shutdown, the main reason for 2013s was because the Democrats and Republicans could not agree on whether or not to include funds for Obamacare. But even though they could not decide, the law for Obamacare had already been passed so even if they were not sure Obamacare was still going to go into effect. RT America reported that even though the shutdown was happening it was not going to have an effect on Obamacare nor was it going to delay the date that Obamacare went into effect either. Along with the history and the reasons as to why the government can have a shutdown, there are also some policies that change a little. In a Government Shutdown laws, Government employees, and the reasons towards a shutdown are slightly changed but not to the extreme. The history from previous shutdowns also has some related changes to the recent shutdown. From not being able to receive the legal documentation of a legal worker to closing down the National Parks around the U.S. Most people are not affected by the shutdown, however those who are contracted by the Government are. The Government has it policies on closing down businesses, National Parks, and Monuments until the shutdown is resolved and up again.

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The government shutdown has its reasons as to why they order to have these things or places closed throughout the shutdown because of the time and money. Keeping their monuments and national parks open to the public means that they need to continue to pay the employees and the place where its at. The government has its budget to keep while the shutdown is still going on. Based on expenses, the government spends about $1 million a week for each week throughout a shutdown. Due to these expenses, the government is not able to spend more on other things (Plumer 2013) Federal workers dont receive their proper pay and some do not receive it at all. Any employee that works for or with the government get their pays cut or do not get paid at all. However, after a few days, the government ordered for them to return to work because for they will pay them a small amount. Although, Pete Williams, author of Who Works and Who Doesnt: The Law Behind The Government Shutdown, mentions the Pay Our Military Act, which says that our military personnel will receive their pay on time (Williams 2013). Although there is a shutdown there are no laws that prohibit local services to close. The postal service will continue to distribute out mail, 9-11 continues to answer calls and help people, Social Security and Medicaid continues to benefit those in need (because these services arent paid for by congress), travel in airplanes, receive unemployment pay, and of course, students still attend school. There are some laws though, that make some things close. One is not able to visit the capitol,

apply for business loans, visit monuments, visit national parks, have a labor certification processed, visit a civil war battlefield, or check the legal status of an employee. There arent many things that close but there arent many things open either. On the time of a government shutdown, only a few laws are changed, which makes not that much change in our daily routines. Most of the governments functions continue to function perfectly, with them being funded efficiently. Even though the government is on a budget while being in a shutdown, they still fund their functions that are in use partially. Even though there is about 800,000 federal workers on furlough, there

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is still more than 65% federal employees working. Technically, everything is still functioning and people are still working (Snyder 2013). The government shutdown does affect businesses and people in some cases, but not by law or changes of law. It affects it by how the government is functioning and responding to the shutdown; their reaction to the shutdown is what makes the shutdown turn into a downfall to many companies and federal workers. As noted earlier, not many laws are changed or removed from the state or U.S. constitution, but different policies are slightly remodeled or asked to function differently. No state or constitutional laws are affected by the government shutdown unless asked to do so. When asked to asked to do so, it does not happen as easily as it seems, both the Democrats and Republicans have to agree and also make sure that it does not violate the citizens rights. All laws remain the same and all policies remain the same as well. Only those asked for to change will change but only throughout the shutdown period.

The government shutdown on October 1st has affected people all over the United States leaving them concerned on how they are going to support their families and tend to their bills without pay. Some people have been put on furlough but are not getting paid. Think thats unfair? There are some people who are working with no pay at all. Until the government comes back on then they will be back paid. National parks and zoos have been closed down but the animals remain watched, fed and taken good care of. The courts are still open and the mail man is still delivering mail. The garbage is also being picked up however, Washington is not so lucky. In order for the garbage to be collected Washingtons budget has to be approved by Congress. No budget equals no trash being picked up. D.C. produces about 500 tons of garbage each week or so claims the Washington Post.

2013 Government Shutdown So why has the government shut down? Well, the United States has operated without a

budget since 2009 and has avoided a government shutdown with last- minute deals. Not only has the government run out of money but the nation is set to hit its borrowing limit and potentially default on its debt in mid-October. Shutting down and reopening the government alone costs money. Federal agencies have to use up time, energy and resources to plan for one. The two previous shut downs in late 1995 and early 1996 cost the country $1.4 billion. Back-pay costs of this years shutdown were worth 2 million dollars (Plumer, 2013). Now that the government has re-opened on October 17th federal workers are already filing paperwork to join a lawsuit against the government. They are suing the government for having their paychecks withheld for the month the shutdown was in effect. Employees said that they had to delay credit card and other payments not knowing when their paychecks would finally come through. They had received abbreviated checks early in the month for their preshutdown work, the workers say that they did not get paid until the 24th of October. All these federal workers expressed concern and fear that they will have to juggle their bills again for the possibility that the government will shut down early in January of next year. The shutdown could end up costing money by the lawsuit of these infuriated workers who seek damages for the governments alleged labor law violations. (Lowery, 2013) According to Heidi Burakiewicz, a lawyer with the firm, there are more than a million plaintiffs for the suit, all of whom worked through the government shutdown as excepted personnel. As you see there is more to it than what people think there is, there are many issues and concerns that Congress has to check and deal with during a shutdown. Many decisions, debates, meeting, and money is being used, but even with all these things going on they managed to pass

2013 Government Shutdown the Continuing Resolution until January. Until January comes the Continuing Resolution is supposed to fund the government, and we are to wait and see what happens next.

2013 Government Shutdown References

Benac, N. (October 13, 2013) Shutdown Driving Debate Over Role of Government. ABCnews.com. Retrieved: October 14, 2013 from www.abcnews.com

Jamieson, D (September 4, 2013) Hundreds Of Federal Workers Look To Join Lawsuit Against Government Over Shutdown from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/04/shutdown-lawsuitfederal-workers_n_4214999.html

Korte, G. (October 1, 2013) 66 Questions and Answers about the Government Shutdown
USAToday.com. Retrieved: October 14, 2013 from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/29/questions-and-answers-about-theshutdown/2888419/

Longley, R. (October 14, 2013) Government Shutdowns: The History and Effects of Government Shutdowns. About.com Retrieve: October 14, 2013 from http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/federalbudgetprocess/a/Government-Shutdowns.htm

Lowery, A. (November 8, 2013) White House Puts Price on Government Shutdown from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/us/politics/white-house-puts-price-on-governmentshutdown.html?_r=0

Plumer, B. (September 30, 2013) Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/30/absolutely-everythingyou-need-to-know-about-how-the-government-shutdown-will-work/

Snyder, M. (October 2, 2013) Government Shutdown? 36 Facts Which Prove That Almost Everything Is Still Running

2013 Government Shutdown http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/government-shutdown-36-facts-whichprove-that-almost-everything-is-still-running Williams, P. (October 10 2013) Who works and who doesnt: The law behind the government shutdown http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/10/20900711-who-works-and-whodoesnt-the-law-behind-the-government-shutdown?lite

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