With the federal government at an impasse in Washington, many Hawaii residents are concerned how the shutdown will hurt the state of Hawaii.According to United States Senator Brian Schatz (Hawaii) as many as 15,000 defense civilians and 25,000 federal employees could be furloughed because of this government shutdown. The Hawaii National Guard has decided to postpone their monthly drills for nearly 5,000 soldiers and airmen until they receive a clearer picture of the what is happening. Other group affected include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (100 employees), shipyard workers at Pearl Harbor (3,000 workers) and all national parks and museums. State of Hawaii Finance Director, Kalbert Young, stated, "And like sequestration, the actual in-practice implications are going to take time to materialize and for us to be able to see them so that they can be evaluated. I would like it to end tomorrow or tonight, but my suspicion is it will be a couple of days. But what if it gets to be a week? That gets to be a real problem."
Young added that there are many programs that are administered by state and local officials on behalf of the federal government. For example, Medicaid, temporary assistance for needy families, subsidized school lunches and food stamps are all handled locally. Young cautioned, "The question now is, Well, who is paying for all these programs? Because what I'm dealing with is now, on Oct. 1, when the federal government is not in action, nobody has said anything about these programs. So is the public expecting the states or the local governments will pay for these on behalf of the federal government? Because the states and the counties don't have any clear picture on whether or not they will be reimbursed."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10-2-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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