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Politics & Government

County Agencies Prepare for Possible Government Shutdown

Revolutionary Times Weekend one event that could be affected; Great Swamp would also close.

As the country waits to find out whether a partial federal government shutdown will occur Saturday at 12:01 a.m., some agencies and federal departments know the impact of a shutdown.

For others, like Picatinny Arsenal, an Army research facililty that operates with a mixture of military and civilian personnel, the direction is not yet clear, according to spokesman Tim Rider. 

He said base leaders were meeting Thursday afternoon to examine directives from the Department of Defense issued earlier in the day.

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One casualty could be the April 15 to 17 Revolutionary Times Weekend, since that event is centered on facilities operated by the National Park Service, which said it will suspend operations during a federal shutdown. 

The Revolutionary Times Weekend is being planned by the Morristown  National Historic Park, which operates two of the key visitor sites for the weekend,  Washington Headquarters in Morristown and Jockey Hollow, the Continental Army camp site, The Morris County Tourism Bureau, The Morris County Park Commission, and several local agencies and historic sites.

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Neither Jill Hawk, the National Park superintendent, nor Leslie Bensley, executive director of th Morris County Tourism Bureau, two of the key organizers, could be reached Thursday.

Mary Jo Buchannan, Morris County's human services director, said she checked with Gary Denaman, director of the local Office of Temporary Assistance who  said in the shutdown of 1995, funding to pay for unemployment assistance was issued before the shutdown and unemployed persons were not affected.

Unemployment insurance is funded jointly by the state and the federal governments and benefits would not be affected by a short-term federal shutdown, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

According to federal department  guidelines, here are some of the impacts of the federal government shuts down:

  • Federal tax returns: The filing deadline remains the same, April 18. If the government shuts down, Commissioner of Internal Revenue Douglas Shulman said Wednesday his agency will not process tax returns filed on paper, but will process those filed electronically. 
  • Veterans Affairs: With advance appropriations in a two-year budget cycle, the VA will continue to provide 100 percent of  health care services to enrolled Veterans through VA medical facilities across the country. Veterans' medical appointments will not be canceled or delayed in the event of a partial government-wide shutdown. In addition, while there will be a reduction in benefits staffing, in the short-term, veterans currently receiving VA benefits will continue to receive those payments on a timely basis and without interruption. 
  • Department of Agriculture: Grain and other commodity inspection, weighing and grading services funded by user fees; inspections for import and export activities; Forest Service law enforcement and fire suppression efforts will continue.

Also, funds have been made available to continue the Women, Infants and Children and Child Nutrition programs through June, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has sufficient funding to allow benefits to continue through May.

These National Wildlife Refuges will be closed during a federal shutdown: Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County; Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge in Sussex County; Supwana  River and Cape May National Wildlife Refuges in Cape May County; and Edwin Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Atlantic County.

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