Story by Daniella Tebib, News Editor
Since Dec. 22, 2018, the government has been partially shut down, impacting many people of the Murray-Calloway County community as well as local parks.
The partial shutdown has been caused by the lack of negotiations between President Donald Trump and the Democrats. Trump wants over $5 billion to build a wall on the southern border, but Democrats refuse to approve the funding.
“Congress must appropriate money and provide authority for government agencies to spend money,” Drew Seib, assistant professor of political science, said. “Congress can appropriate money all at once to every agency or can appropriate money one agency at time… This is also supposed to be a once-a-year process, but for quite some time, Congress has struggled to appropriate money for an entire year. They have had to pass… continuing resolutions to appropriate money for periods as short as a day and sometimes as long as several months. Currently, some agencies have funding, which is why this is called a partial government shutdown.”
Neither Trump nor the Democrats have backed down, making this the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
“We can stop it, but we can’t stop it if we’re going to play politics,” Trump said at the convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation in New Orleans, Louisiana on Jan. 14.
The Murray community has experienced many inconveniences because of the shutdown.
“For people in the community, the government shutdown may affect things like mortgages underwriting by the federal government,” Seib said. “Because of this, it may take longer to close on a home you are trying to buy, depending on the type of loan you have. It has also impacted the FDA, which means that there won’t be safety inspections to ensure the food we buy at grocery stores doesn’t have E. coli or salmonella. If the government shutdown lasts several more weeks, we are likely to see effects on vulnerable populations, such as those who receive SNAP benefits.”
Murray State students, faculty and staff can feel secure knowing that they aren’t being directly affected by the shutdown currently. However, Seib said, if the government shutdown continues, they might experience minor inconveniences.
“Pell grants and federal loans are mandatory spending, meaning that their funding is mandated and thus authorized by their respective laws,” Seib said. “These programs are not part of the current budget showdown… It is possible that as the shutdown drags on, students may feel minor effects given the skeleton staff at the Department of Education. For faculty and staff, the effects should generally be minimal; any federal grant should have already been appropriated by government. Faculty and staff will be able to apply for new grants with the federal government, but they may not be processed until after the government reopens, depending on the sponsoring agency.”
Murray’s National Recreation Area, Land Between the Lakes has also been affected since it is run by the USDA Forest Service. Parts of LBL have been closed and trash collection has been neglected. While the government is shut down, volunteers and organizations have stepped up to help pick up trash.
Melissa Dunn, from Symsonia, Kentucky, volunteered with the Paducah Jeep Owners Club to help clean the park.
“Paducah Jeep Owners Club rides the numbered roads a lot at Land Between the Lakes,” Dunn said. “We take trash in, we take it out and are always picking up trash from others on our rides. If we want to be able to continue doing what we love, we have to take care of it even if it means going the extra mile. We will be helping keep Land Between the Lakes clean during the shutdown and also after it is over.”
Many other non-profit organizations have stepped up to help keep the park clean as well.
For more information on how to volunteer with Friends of LBL, contact volunteer@friendsoflbl.org.