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Five Things You Should Know – If there is a government shutdown this week

Florida has over 84,000 federal employees and many would suffer if there is a shutdown

The Federal Government will shut down on Friday at midnight if Congress does not have a budget in place or at the very least a continuing resolution keeping the lights on. Florida has the sixth most federal employees in the United States. There are about 84,000 workers in the Sunshine State who would be without work if the government shuts down Saturday morning

As of today that remains a possibility if President Donald Trump, ties the budget to the funding of his boarder wall. But President Trump does not want the 100th day of his presidency marked by a shutdown.

Here are five things you need to know if indeed the government does shutdown for the first time since 2013.

Federal employees will be sent home.

The technical word is being “furloughed” and it means that if you are a government employee here is what happens. Some people will go to work on Monday and they will be officially told that they need to go home and not get paid until the funding is in place. They will not be allowed to take their computers or anything that would allow them to do work from home.

Some Federal employees will work but they won’t be paid

The technical word for this group of federal workers is essential.” Those workers are law enforcement employees like TSA, federal prison staff, and FBI agents, along with key emergency workers and doctors. They will go to work without pay and there is no guarantee that they will get back pay once the government is funded again.

The money and mail will continue to work

The United States Postal Service will continue to deliver the mail and you won’t see any change from normal service. The Federal Reserve will continue to print money and pay some bills. The reason these two offices work as normal is because they are funded independently from the federal government.

Shutdowns will take place at key agencies.

The National Park Service which staff and oversee the thousands of parks around the country will be closed to the public. The Centers for Disease Control as well as the National Institute of Health will stop all research and field work.

Social Security money will go out but other payments will be delayed  

The government has safeguards to protect Social Security payments. They will go out on time. If you sign up for Social Security during the government shutdown there will be a delay of getting your first check.

Meanwhile, if you get a check for unemployment, veterans’ benefits, farm subsidies and tax refunds there could be a delay. Back in 2013 the veteran’s benefits were paid quicker than other’s items on this list.

James Williams: Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.
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