If the federal government shuts down Sunday, many publicly-funded programs could also shut down, including several relied on by thousands in the Tri-State region.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family services released a Q&A sheet addressing some specific benefits programs that could be impacted.
According to the state department, programs will be funded through October, but things could get dicey after that, if the government shutdown stretches longer than one month.
This applies to:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding
- Ohio Works First (OWF) benefits
- Publicly-funded child care benefits
For each of those programs, ODJFS said benefits will last through October — but could be uncertain after that.
The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which helps low-income women who are pregnant or postpartum, will also lose funding if the government shuts down.
According to the USDA, in 2022, 6.3 million people benefited from the WIC program each month, including 39% of all infants in America, at an annual cost of $5.7 billion.
A government shutdown, though, would mean money would no longer flow into the program.
Those who may have applied for SNAP, OWF or publicly-funded child care in October, the county should still process your application normally. If you applied to any of those programs and your application is still pending, it should also be processed normally.
The ODJFS offices will still remain open through any government shutdown.
Social security operations and funding will not be impacted if the government shuts down. Nor will Medicare or Veteran's Affairs benefits.
In addition to publicly-funded programs, national parks will also be forced to close for the duration of a shutdown.
As of Friday afternoon, the House had failed to pass a short-term funding bill. More than 20 Republicans joined Democrats to sink the bill, which would have cut funding to most federal agencies by about 30%. Budgets for the Defense, Veterans and Homeland Security departments would have gone untouched.
The government is scheduled to shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday if a bill is not passed by both chambers and signed by the president.
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