Some might not have noticed any impacts on their daily life yet, but as of Oct. 1, the U.S. government began a partial shutdown.
Lewis County is protected from direct impacts for now, but should the shutdown continue, a program that provides money to feed families and children will be the first on the chopping block and could be impacted even after the shutdown ends.
Immediately after the start of the government shutdown, Washington state departments attempted to assuage fears by letting local governments know that the state would be able to cover costs during the shutdown.
However, county officials say the state will be unable to cover costs indefinitely. The longer the shutdown, the more impacts will be felt locally.
According to county officials, the first program in harm's way is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, more commonly known as WIC. The program operates similar to food stamps or EBT, but is only distributed to current parents and can only be used to purchase food that meets nutritional standards.
Lewis County Public Health and Social Services Director Meja Handlen warned that if the shutdown stretches beyond 30 days, it will likely no longer be able to provide benefits to registered families.
“We’ve got a 30-, 60-, 90-(day) plan,” Handlen said. “So if it's 30 days, there’s some room there. If it's 60 days, that's really problematic, and also there’s no benefits because that comes direct from the state and the feds.”
While the WIC program in Lewis County is technically funded by the state, those dollars come straight from the federal government. According to Handlen, the state has said it can sustain WIC operations with its own funds for one to two weeks while figuring out a plan for the program beyond that. If the state runs out of funds to sustain the program, the onus falls on the county to do its best to support it.
Handlen is not optimistic about the county’s ability to sustain the program on its own. Even without providing the financial benefits to the 600 clients Lewis County WIC currently supports, the county would be on the hook for five full-time staff member salaries.
“The services we can provide is talking about nutrition consultation and these other things,” Handlen said. “But again, with that funding done, that would be an ask to the general fund, which I know we don't have.”
Handlen emphasized that the county can weather the storm in the short term. At the moment, state funding is still flowing, costing the state roughly $14 million a month to support WIC programs and staffing statewide. As that runs out, the county will be able to minimize costs by switching staff to other roles or making other budget maneuvers.
According to Handlen, the major concern is actually what happens after the shutdown ends. Should the federal government elect not to pay for the service provided during the shutdown or pay only part of the cost, the expenses could leave a hole in state and local budgets.
In the email from the Washington state Department of Health (DOH) announcing potential impacts, the department warned that reimbursement for services provided is not guaranteed.
“While you can continue to provide services, there is no guarantee of reimbursement for those services until we receive additional guidance from the Office of Financial Management and/or the federal shutdown ends,” reads the email from the DOH. “If the funding is not restored, DOH will be forced to terminate the WIC Admin (Statement of Work) retroactively as of the date of this letter, pursuant to contract terms.”
While WIC is the primary concern at the moment, other county programs could see negative impacts if the shutdown continues. Other social services provided at the county level funded through the Washington State Department of Commerce with federal funds could see impacts. However, Commerce has said it will be able to front the costs for the time being.
Lewis County Manager Ryan Barrett added that the shutdown has the potential to impact Lewis County Public Works projects, pausing work, should it continue too long.
Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show the state spends $14 million a month on WIC benefits statewide and not per week as originally reported.
