A USI professor is weighing in on the ongoing government shutdown, which began on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
Nicholas LaRowe, associate professor of political science, said the shutdown is due to a lack of agreement between Republicans and Democrats regarding how the next fiscal year should be funded.
The central issue for disagreements is the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.
LaRowe said that this issue is a democratic priority, but the lack of subsidies could disproportionately affect one group of people.
“So it’s a weird thing where it’s kind of the Democrats’ policy priority, but a lot of the voters who would suffer from the lack of subsidies are Republican voters,” LaRowe said.
Unlike the 2018 shutdown that lasted until the leadership in the House of Representatives switched parties, the two parties will eventually have to work out their disagreements.
LaRowe said that is Democrats’ main priority during this shutdown.
“I suppose they could do other things, like committee hearings and stuff, but I think probably the only thing they are doing right now is trying to figure out the shutdown,” he said, adding that Congress is still being paid as required by the Constitution.
Members of Congress are the only federal employees being paid through government spending, although some are still being required to work — including some workers in the Evansville area.
“For folks who are baggage screeners, like at Evansville Regional Airport, they still have to show up to work because they are essential. They are not paid right now. They will get paid their back pay whenever this ends,” LaRowe said.
He also said the United States Postal Service workers are still being paid because the service is self-funded through sales, not government spending.
Another impact of the shutdown may be seen on campus.
According to a New York Times article, 87% of federal workers for the United States Department of Education have been furloughed. The article mentioned that while disbursement of student aid, such as Federal Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student Loans, will continue, the Office for Civil Rights has stopped reviewing and investigating complaints and all grantmaking activities by the department have ceased.
LaRowe said that although funds for the fall semester have already been dispersed, there could be a delay in disbursement for the spring semester, depending on the length of the shutdown.
“It could be the case, if this lasts for a while, that there could be a backlog, and you might not get your January disbursement on time,” he said.
As of Friday, there has been no hint at when the shutdown might end, but LaRowe said all government shutdowns usually end the same way.
“Usually shutdowns end when one side loses the [public relations] war and gets blamed for the shutdown, and that is what they are doing right now, is trying to get the public to blame one party or the other,” he said.