‘Nobody answers the phone’: What would a government shutdown mean for Idaho?

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Furloughed workers. Closed visitor centers. A partially closed national park. Stopped drinking water and food safety inspections.

Here’s what we know so far.

What would federal government shutdown mean for Idaho?

The possible event is only hours away, yet its implications for the state are still unclear, indicating the chaotic nature of closing the U.S. government amid a revolt within the Republican Party in Congress over government spending.

If Congress does not pass new funding bills, the federal government will shut down Sunday. However, at the 11th hour Saturday, Republicans and Democrats reached a deal on a 335-91 vote in the House that includes a 45-day continuing resolution with disaster relief funds, an extension of a federal flood insurance program and FAA reauthorization, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

After passing the resolution, the House adjourned until Monday. It’s unclear what will happen in the Senate.

Many federal agencies have not yet announced their plans for a shutdown, which would furlough hundreds of thousands of government workers and close many federal offices. There are more than 9,000 federal employees in Idaho.

The Treasury Department released its contingency plans Thursday, noting that the Internal Revenue Service would stop answering calls from taxpayers if a shutdown happens.

Generally, workers deemed “essential” — law enforcement and public safety workers — are allowed to keep working, though their pay is usually delayed.

While federal criminal litigation would continue, lawsuits and other civil litigation could stop, said Cassandra Fulghum, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boise, told the Statesman by email.

“Civil litigation will be curtailed or postponed to the extent this can be done without compromising to a significant degree the safety of human life or the protection of property,” she said.

Josh Hurwitt, the U.S. attorney for the District of Idaho, would not be furloughed. But other federal attorneys could be furloughed, which would lead to delays in litigation the U.S. government is a party to, Stephen Kenyon, the clerk of the federal courts in Idaho, told the Statesman.

Kenyon said the courts will remain open during a shutdown, and the courts have enough funding to pay employees for two weeks. After that, they would be coming to work without a paycheck.

What would happen to campsites?

The U.S. Forest Service last updated its contingency plans in 2020. Such plans, which every agency puts together, describe how an agency will operate if there is a lapse in funding.

While Forest Service campsites could remain open under the 2020 operating plans, the 2020 procedure — produced during former President Donald Trump’s administration — relies on visitor fees to fund basic maintenance, clean bathrooms and staff campgrounds. The National Park Service did that during the 2018 shutdown, which the Government Accountability Office thought was illegal, because the funds were meant for other purposes.

While most Forest Service workers are furloughed, there would be no staff available to authorize new livestock grazing permits, according to the 2020 plan.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which the Forest Service is inside of, did not respond to request for comment.

The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that most of its visitor services would close, including its Boise office. Campgrounds, boat ramps and other public lands will remain open, but bathroom cleaning and trash collection may cease. If residents have campsites reserved through Recreation.gov, they may not be honored if the locations are not staffed.

The agency would stop offering new oil, gas and other extractive permits.

The Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge near Nampa would likely close, unless access to the lands “does not require the presence of a federal employee or contractor,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s contingency plans.

In 2019, the refuge canceled events because of a government shutdown, according to previous Statesman reporting.

National Parks have operated differently during recent government shutdowns. During the Obama administration, parks largely closed for a 2013 shutdown. During a 2018 shutdown, the Trump administration left parks open but unstaffed.

A small portion of Yellowstone National Park is in Idaho. The Park Service also oversees National Monuments, which include Craters of the Moon, the Minidoka Japanese internment site and other locations.

In 2019, national monuments like Hagerman Fossil Beds and Craters of the Moon stayed upon but were unstaffed.

What do Idaho’s leaders say about the potential shutdown?

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Brad Little, Madison Hardy, said the lapse would have “no impact on Idaho’s state-funded programs.”

“Federally funded programs that pass through state agencies may be impacted, but the impact is blunted by programs having access to mandatory federal funding streams and carryover funds,” she added. “Unlike other states, in the event of a shutdown, Idaho will not use state funds to underwrite the federal government’s fiscal indiscipline.”

A spokesperson for Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, Marissa Morrison, said the senator opposes “omnibus” spending packages. Congress has a dozen appropriations bills to pass each year, which can be grouped together into one big bill.

“That said, he is opposed to federal government shutdowns,” Morrison said in an email. Crapo is a co-sponsor of the End Government Shutdowns Act, which would continue funds for 120 days after they have lapsed, reducing that funding by 1% every 90 days thereafter.

A spokesperson for Senator Jim Risch did not respond to a request for comment. Risch told KTVB that the “American people expect Congress to at the bare minimum keep the government running.”

A spokesperson for Rep. Russ Fulcher did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Mike Simpson released a statement Wednesday opposing the shutdown.

“To Idaho, a government shutdown means thousands of furloughs for government workers and contractors, no new vouchers to homeless veterans through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a halt to U.S. Small Business Administration loans, and the closure of our national parks, just to name a few impacts,” Simpson’s statement said. He also said the lapse would jeopardize funding for American soldiers.

“A handful of my colleagues believe the American people would not notice if the government stopped operating,” Simpson added. “But what happens when our constituents need help with a federal agency, and nobody answers the phone?”