PORTLAND– If the government shuts down on Friday night, Maine will rapidly feel the effects.
Maine has about 11,000 federal employees, according to the United States Office of Personnel Management.
If Congress fails to reach the deadline for extending funding, many of these personnel will be furloughed, and programs would be stopped.
Starting at the Portland Jetport, a TSA official stated that 59,000 of the 62,000 Department of Homeland Security personnel will continue to work without pay.
TSA intends to screen 40 million travelers over the holidays and warns that “an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports.”
But don’t panic if your Christmas package is delayed. the United States Postal Service is not funded by tax dollars, but instead through the sale of postage, so a shutdown would have little impact on mail.
Social Security benefits would continue, but if the shutdown occurs, the Social Security Administration plans to lay off hundreds of employees and stop services such as Freedom of Information Act requests and overpayment processing.
Depending on how long the shutdown lasts, certain Department of Health and Human Services programs may be limited.
According to a spokeswoman for Maine DHHS, current SNAP and WIC recipients will be unaffected through the end of the year, but the future for new enrollees becomes less certain after that point.
When the last partial government shutdown occurred in the winter of 2018, Acadia National Park shuttered its gates, which is expected to happen again.
Members of the Coast Guard, air traffic controllers, the National Guard, and the TSA were all required to work but not paid for weeks.
The Maine Army National Guard spokesperson said they are ready to do it again.