Lawmakers in Washington voted to reopen the federal government last night, but the longest shutdown in history is likely to have lasting effects, including in the Capital Region.
With lawmakers reaching an agreement to end the 43-day shutdown late Wednesday, some are celebrating the restored flow of funding to the American people. But others say challenges are likely to remain.
President Donald Trump signed the funding bill Wednesday night, which is expected to help restore flight schedules to full capacity and end disruptions to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Despite the expected dispersal of funds — including paychecks returning to the roughly 1.4 million federal workers who went without pay or were furloughed during the six-week shutdown — effects are likely to continue.
Federal employees were directed to return to work Thursday in a memo from Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. In that memo, Vought thanked employees for their “continued work on behalf of the American people to usher in President Trump’s Golden Age of America.”
Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers, says members of the organization — which represents more than 700,000 people in schools, colleges and health care facilities — will feel the effects of the shutdown for weeks or months.
“Just because the shutdown is over doesn’t mean our advocacy efforts are over, because the SNAP cuts are still coming. Those were in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed. And so we can expect to see a lot more food insecurity in our students and in our communities,” she said.
Person says teachers and other school leaders have stepped up in recent weeks to fill gaps for families who need support. She says that while students in New York have access to free breakfast and lunch, their families need help feeding them outside school hours — a concern exacerbated during the shutdown.
“We’re going to be enhancing our efforts to do backpack programs, where we send food home with kids after school, over the weekends, during school breaks,” Person said. “When they’re away from us for a week, the kids may not get enough food during those time periods. And so we’re going to be stepping up our efforts to make sure we take care of kids even outside school hours.”
Congressional Democrats initially voted against a measure to keep the government open in October, seeking to fight for the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire at the end of the year. But after eight senators defected, the bill that passed Wednesday did not address the issue directly. Instead, Republicans agreed to hold a separate vote next month on extending the tax credits.
As a result of the shutdown, SNAP benefits ceased Nov. 1 before the Trump administration agreed to restore partial funding following orders from federal judges. As of Wednesday night, Electronic Benefit Transfer cards had been reloaded and participants can once again use their benefits. But despite that and support from New York state, Susan Lintner of the Regional Food Bank says impacts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are imminent.
“Able-bodied adults without dependents — otherwise referred to as ABAWDs — who for one reason or another do not work and receive benefits will have to either work or volunteer a certain number of hours within a three-year period to continue receiving SNAP benefits,” Lintner said. “Of course, we want everyone to have access and opportunities for employment. But we are also aware that in certain parts of our service area, opportunities do not exist, and now those individuals may not have access to those benefits. We also know that some people are primary caretakers for family members with disabilities or elderly parents who they need to care for, and those folks also will not be eligible for benefits.”
In addition to subsidies and tax credits, the federal government also provides benefits to its own employees. But Katie Rader, a political science professor at the University at Albany, says the shutdown and other moves by the Trump administration this term may make some people think twice about working for the federal government.
“I think one notable piece of this shutdown was the question mark over whether furloughed workers were going to get paid. That hasn’t necessarily been part of the debate previously,” Rader said. “The continuing resolution did include that stipulation and that promise for those furloughed workers. So, I think it raises a lot of questions as they’re going back to work. Yes, they’re going to get back pay, but if I lost 40 days of my paycheck, what kinds of things happened in that period that I wouldn’t necessarily get back for my own family? This could mean sacrifices in their own lives.”
