LANSING — Michigan is less than two weeks from a government shutdown that would immediately suspend numerous state services that residents rely on.
If a spending plan isn’t reached by Oct. 1, thousands of state workers would be temporarily laid off until lawmakers reach an agreement.
“Not only will our state employees feel the weight of the shutdown — the entire state of Michigan will face some negative impacts, whether direct or indirect,” said Jamie Swain, an executive assistant with the Michigan State Employees Association.
Swain says that a shutdown would cause immediate impacts around the state.
“Our motor carrier officers wouldn’t be able to put wouldn’t be able to patrol the highways, endangering Michigan citizens,” she said. “Our conservation officers would not be able to respond to emergencies or patrol rural areas that rely on them.”
Among other impacts, offices like the Secretary of State would close, most road work would halt and state parks would shutter.
State-run services like the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses would be disrupted, as well as the sale of lottery tickets.
Even state functions generally considered essential wouldn’t be funded, unless lawmakers act.
“It’s possible that the Legislature passes an emergency budget allowing these essential services, like our police officers to continue — but as of right now, that has not been done,” Swain said.
Swain also says that MSEA’s members have received little to no indication of what would happen in a shutdown, like whether they’d be laid off, receive backpay or be expected to work without pay during that time.
Bob Schneider with the Citizens Research Council says that a shutdown that lasts for days or weeks would further disrupt state operations.
“Healthcare providers would probably not be getting Medicaid reimbursement, and depending on the hospital or the provider, after a while, that’s going to be a challenge as well,” he said.
Public schools have also shared concerns that their mid-October state aid payments could be delayed, causing some to take out loans to prepare.
Schneider says that a longer shutdown would be largely uncharted territory. The state government briefly shut down twice in the 2000s — but both instances were quickly resolved by lawmakers.
“We haven’t really had this experience. In the past, the state shutdowns have generally been hours long, not protracted, and we’ll see what happens in this case,” he said. “But definitely, the longer it goes, the more impact it’s going to have on groups.”