An impasse over a funding bill caused non-essential governmental programs to shut down today after Congress failed to reach an agreement.
But the government shutdown will likely not have a serious effect on the daily lives of students or Louisianans as a whole, according to University professors.
Political science professor James Garand said the debate stems from Republicans’ efforts to prevent or delay funding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
For the past few years, in lieu of passing a new budget, Congress has passed continuing resolutions allowing the federal government to continue operations at the same budget as the previous year, Garand said. He said the continuing resolution must be passed by both houses of Congress and approved by the president.
Garand said the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans, has refused to pass the continuing resolution until Democrats are willing to negotiate over the funding of Obamacare.
Today marks the end of the fiscal year, and because the resolution was not passed, funding for all nonessential government programs and employees will be cut, Garand said.
“They’re not going to shut down the military. Criminals won’t be running around the streets,” Garand said. “In the end, the president will determine what is essential and what is nonessential.”
Economics department head Robert Newman said he thinks the standoff will be resolved before it can affect students.
“I doubt seriously students will be affected by this,” Newman said. “It won’t last long enough for us to see any problems at this level.”
Garand largely agreed with Newman’s assessment, but added that students doing research which relies on grants from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation could find their jobs put on hold. He said though he is not clear on the processes research funding must go through, he thinks the end of the fiscal year may mean such grants will lose their funding.
Other than funding for research, Garand said students shouldn’t worry about the shutdown affecting their lives. Services that will be cut will include national parks and some duties of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I think the term ‘government shutdown’ is an exaggeration,” Garand said. “Some people will not receive some services, yes, but largely things will stay the same.”
Despite the optimistic outlook, some students are worried that services they use will be cut.
Economics senior Tim Calverton said he is worried about the effects the shutdown will have on student aid and on the United States’ reputation over time.
“I’m mainly worried this is going to lead to World War III with Russia,” Calverton said.