How a government shutdown would impact Michiana

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - We are less than a week away from a possible government shutdown, but will the economy be substantially affected compared to last year?

In the last five decades there have been 21 government shutdowns and the 22nd is not far away. The U.S. Congress has to pass 12 different spending bills and sign them before Oct. 1, 2023, in order to keep the government running.

16 News Now spoke with Jeff Campbell from the University of Notre Dame who says in dollar terms there is a big difference between previous shutdowns and the upcoming one.

“Overall this is not big money. It’s big money for a few people but it’s not big money for the economy, as a whole. While both parties to the negotiations are going to aggressively sell to the media how much damage the other side is doing by causing the shutdown, in reality, the damage to the economy is pretty small,” said Campbell. “The people who we need to really worry about are poor families that are on SNAP. Most of our social insurance systems including social security and including temporary assistance to needy families is isolated from a government shutdown.”

State benefits will not be affected if a government shutdown does occur. There is no estimation of how long the shutdown would last.

Copyright 2023 WNDU. All rights reserved.