Politics & Government

City Administrator: No Immediate Effects for Summit If Government Shuts Down

Union County likely to see no issues in short term as well.

City Administrator Chris Cotter said there likely won't be any short terms effects on the municipality if the federal government shuts down at midnight.

"I think probably for the short term we probably wouldn't see much effect here in Summit," Cotter said.

A midnight deadline looms for President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to reach a budget agreement or see a shutdown of the government.

Find out what's happening in Summitwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Cotter said the only short-term impacts could be delays in processing grants and issues for the Summit Housing Authority with the federal agencies they deal with.

"Long term, surem any number of things could happen," Cotter said.

Find out what's happening in Summitwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The office of U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon County) is preparing for an increase in constituent calls regarding federal services.

“Early on there would be no impact,” Lance chief of staff Todd Mitchell said of the congressional office. “I would suspect the phone would be ringing off the hook. It will be all hands on deck.”

Lance operates a Washington office and district offices in Westfield and Flemington. Mitchell said he expects staffers in the three offices to be handling constituent calls on what federal services remain available and what services have been halted.

Mitchell said that staffers are developing answers on the impact of a shutdown on services, but that a lot of information is still unavailable. Lance's office has set up a FAQ page on their website regarding federal services. 

The last federal shutdown occurred in 1995 and lasted 23 days, shuttering all non-essential federal government offices. A potential shutdown will close such entities as national parks, small business assistance offices, Labor Department offices and the processing of passports, among other issues. Among the national parks that will be closed will be the Washington historic site in Morristown, the Grover Cleveland birthplace in West Caldwell, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

According to Mitchell, Social Security payments will continue, since the funds are considered mandated under federal law. Other mandated payments include certain disability and unemployment benefits.

Union County government does not anticipate an immediate impact on the delivery of social services. The county's Department of Human Services serves as the primary distributor of federal and state social services benefits in the region.

"In the short term there will be no immediate impact on county government and our services," county spokesman Seb D'Elia said. "In the long term there could be some impact on federal assistance programs. Right now we’re in a wait and see mode."

Most of the federal assistance grants have been sent to state and county governments for the next several months, this includes federal administrative funds for these programs.

Local governments could see an impact in dealing with federal agencies on joint projects or in seeking funding for a local project.

“We hope as a congressional office to help local governments and citizens if they have trouble getting answers to things,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said that if a government shutdown continues, he will start reviewing the office’s staff to determine which areas will be temporarily closed. He said that while he believes all of Lance’s staff to be essential, in the event of a slowdown of business on the House floor, legislative staffers will likely see furloughs.

“We would scale back staff on a rotating basis,” he said.

Mitchell said that while Lance and his staff are preparing for the event of a shutdown, the two-term Republican is in a wait and see mode on this. He said congressional Republicans are meeting today to discuss the budget proposals going between the White House and Capitol Hill.

“The congressman hopes we don’t shut down,” Mitchell said.


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