Representative Sharice Davids hosted an online meeting alongside Kansans whose industries have been directly affected by the government shutdown. Those participants shared personal and professional stories, including how the shutdown impacts mental health services and infrastructure projects at home.
According to a statement from her office, Davids has repeatedly advocated for a bipartisan solution to reopen the government and safeguard the livelihoods of Kansans.
“This shutdown is a devastating blow to our economy and represents real consequences for hardworking Kansans,” said Davids. “I’m committed to working with both parties to find a commonsense, bipartisan solution to reopen the government and ensure Kansans are protected from skyrocketing health care costs. As we heard today, there’s too much at stake for this to go on any longer.”
At today’s press conference, Davids was joined by Tim DeWeese of Johnson County Mental Health Center, Haley Kottler of Kansas Appleseed, Keely Schneider of Workforce Partnership, and Sarah White of the Missouri & Associated Rivers Coalition (MOARC) to highlight how the ongoing government shutdown is affecting Kansans. Mental health services face delays and reduced access, workforce training and small business support are stalled, vital river and infrastructure projects are slowed, and nutrition assistance programs like SNAP and WIC are at risk — putting families, workers, and communities across the state in jeopardy.
Davids is pushing for a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government and protect Kansans from the consequences of partisan gridlock in D.C. She recently announced her support for two bills: one to guarantee pay for aviation workers and another to ensure active-duty service members continue receiving their paychecks. Kansas is home to more than 25,000 federal employees and more than 21,000 active-duty service members.
A shutdown has serious impacts on Kansas families and the overall U.S. economy. Americans now face disruptions to important benefits, service members are not being compensated, many small businesses have altered their operations, and federal workers have been furloughed without pay. Specifically:
- It’s estimated the five-week partial government shutdown in 2018-2019 reduced economic output by $11 billion in the following two quarters, and the 2013 full government shutdown reduced GDP growth by $20 billion.
- Kansans receiving Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits are experiencing service delays, including disruptions to verifying benefits and the issuance of new cards.
- There are currently more than 25,000 federal workers in Kansas who may have been furloughed.A bipartisan report found that the last three government shutdowns led to the equivalent of 56,940 years in lost productivity from federal workers.
- A bipartisan report found that the last three government shutdowns led to the equivalent of 56,940 years in lost productivity from federal workers.
- The distribution of important food assistance programs, including SNAP, has been disrupted, leaving some Kansans — including women, children, and the elderly — without nutritious food.
- Small businesses are dealing with delays in receiving loans from the federal government.Moody’s Analytics estimated that the 2018-2019 shutdown delayed more than $2 billion in loans to small businesses.
- Moody’s Analytics estimated that the 2018-2019 shutdown delayed more than $2 billion in loans to small businesses.
- Travelers are seeing longer lines at airport security checkpoints and flight delays. They’re also dealing with delayed passport processing times.
While Davids works to reopen the government, Kansans impacted by the shutdown can visit davids.house.gov/shutdown for resources that may help during this time.