Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s administration is warning that the federal government shutdown is harming the Massachusetts economy and putting people across the state in jeopardy.
Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor said Wednesday that as a result of the shutdown, 4,600 federally funded state employees may face furloughs or layoffs and that funding will soon run out for dozens of programs for education, health care, job creation and veterans.
Shor said that in the short term, the state will use whatever flexibility and resources it can to keep those individuals employed and those services up and running.
But Shor said using state funds is not sustainable in the long term.
He said a prolonged shutdown could also jeopardize quarterly federal grant payments for welfare, child care and social services and community service block grants.
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