2023-09-30 01:21:34
According to the White House, more than 37,000 West Virginians receive help from the nutrition assistance WIC program (WCHS)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) —
“The people that we vote into office should hold their same commitments to us and earn their money,” Charleston resident Earnestin White said. “I feel that them shutting down the government at their convenience is a distraction from the underlying problems. They are so important because at this time in my life they are necessary for my survival.”
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Gov. Jim Justice said 16,000 federal employees in the state would be impacted by a shutdown.
“We’re running every contingency that you might possibly run,” Justice said.
According to a statement from the White House, more than 37,000 West Virginians receive help from the nutrition assistance W.I.C. program. A federal contingency fund might provide help for only a few days.
West Virginia DHHR interim secretary Dr. Sherri Young said the agency has enough funding to last through October.
“If the shutdown would go beyond that point of course we would have to reassess and try to divert those funds so that we can go those to the right places,” Young said.
Dr. Young also said Medicaid, C.H.I.P. and child care programs have enough funding for the next couple of months.
“If you’ve lived through a government shutdown like we did in 2013, that I believe went on for 16 or 17 days, it’s miserable, people get upset, they’re worried, concerned and they should be,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said.
A White House spokesperson added the EPA would halt oversight and review of permits and plans to keep safe water and clean air in communities. A WVDEP communications officer released a statement to Eyewitness News:
The WVDEP has been coordinating with its federal partners and does not expect its day to day operations and services to be discontinued or negatively impacted. We are also in constant communication with the Governor’s Office…
The TSA also released a statement regarding the shutdown:
At the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, 59,000 of the agency’s 62,000 employees are considered essential and would continue working without pay in the event of a shutdown. An extended shutdown might mean longer wait times at airports.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske, who was TSA administrator during the previous shutdown, said the lapse in funding took a toll on the agency, with growing numbers of TSA officers saying they were unable to report to work. As a result, airport checkpoint wait times increased. A similar scenario might play out once more if the shutdown lasts for an extended period. It’s very, very hard for anybody to go for 20 days, 30 days, 40 days or longer without receiving a paycheck. It impacts the ability of people to get to work, to pay to put gas in their vehicles, to pay for parking. It impacts their ability to pay the individuals that provide care for their children.
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