Here’s How The Government Shutdown Is Affecting Washington

LONGMIRE, WA - The partial federal government shutdown has lasted two weeks and could extend even longer if Congress and President Donald Trump can't reach a funding agreement. But the shutdown doesn’t affect every state equally. Some, for instance, have more residents receiving food stamps, while others have a large share of federal workers.

Washington ranked as the 18th most affected state, sandwiched between Kentucky and Georgia, according to a report published Thursday by WalletHub. Washington, D.C. unsurprisingly topped the list. The nation’s capital has the highest number of families receiving SNAP benefits, the authors noted, and it tied for first for highest federal contract dollars per capita and highest share of federal jobs.

In this Washington, the shutdown has resulted in the closure of the Mt. Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic national parks, plus other federal parks like the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park in Seattle.

But the shutdown is also affecting domestic violence survivors and food bank workers, according to KUOW. Federal money helps pay for some operations at local food banks, KUOW reported.

The WalletHub researchers compared states based on five measurements, with the highest weight belonging to share of federal jobs and percent of families receiving food stamps.

Here are the 10 states most affected by the shutdown, according to WalletHub:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. New Mexico
3. Maryland
4. Hawaii
5. Alaska
6. Virginia
7. West Virginia
8. Mississippi
9. Alabama
10. Arizona

Minnesota ranked as the state least affected by the shutdown, followed by New Hampshire, Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana.

The longest shutdown in American history was 21 days during Bill Clinton’s presidency. That impasse began in December 1995 and lasted into January 1996. When the government shuts down, some federal workers perform their duties but don’t receive a paycheck. Others receive furlough, essentially meaning a leave of absence.

Tens of thousands of workers in the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Prisons, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard and Secret Service are among those working for free at the moment, according to The New York Times. Most IRS operations have been halted and many national parks are closed.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo by Neal McNamara/Patch