TRICKLE-DOWN SHUTDOWN
State preps for impact of fed government halt
The threat of a potential shutdown of the federal government is being closely monitored by leaders on Beacon Hill.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s budget office is already reviewing past contingency plans created in the event of a shutdown, according to his aides.
“Governor Baker believes members of Congress owe it to the people they represent to put aside political difference and craft a bipartisan solution that funds the federal government,” said Brendan Moss, a Baker spokesman, in a statement.
GOP-drafted legislation aimed at funding the government for four weeks beyond tomorrow’s deadline appeared short of votes in the Senate yesterday.
During the 16-day shutdown in October 2013, leaders debated how much they could do amid the evaporation of federal funds. At the time, some states had planned to devote money to keep popular tourist spots running, but then-Gov. Deval Patrick said the state didn’t have the money to do so.
Baker, then a candidate vying for the Corner Office, had criticized the state for not trying to do more, saying weeks into the shutdown that “worry No. 1” should be cushioning the local economy.
“If I were governor, I’d be talking to the legislative leadership about whether there’s something we can do on a stopgap basis,” Baker told the Herald in an interview about two weeks after the shutdown started.
“It’s not just about the shutdown,” he said at the time. “It’s about the collateral impact that the shutdown can have on local businesses and small businesses that rely on that tourism traffic to be successful.”
If federal lawmakers fail to reach an agreement, an aide to acting Senate President Harriette Chandler said, it will “certainly be a topic of discussion” at Monday’s leadership meeting.
“I continue to monitor the federal situation closely, and am concerned about the potential impact of a shutdown on Massachusetts’ families,” Chandler said in a statement. “While my hope is that the federal government will avoid a shutdown, I will be working closely with the speaker and the governor to mitigate potential impacts should a shutdown occur.”
Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo is also “closely monitoring” the developments in D.C., his office said.
The impact of a federal shutdown, however, would have limits locally. Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said yesterday that although MEMA relies on federal funding, its daily operations uses federal grants that already have been awarded.
And in case of a significant disaster — a concern amid New England’s unpredictable winters — Schwartz said the state could tap into a federal reserve fund, as opposed to seeking a direct federal appropriation that would be jeopardized by any shutdown.