By With the government shutdown taking effect, many Cal State Long Beach students and staff are left wondering how they will be affected.
Lawmakers in Congress failed to pass a bipartisan spending measure by the midnight deadline on Tuesday, an action that would have kept the federal government open.
The shutdown furloughed approximately 800,000 non-essential federal workers — or those who do not provide services for national security, benefit payments and protect life and property — without pay, according to the Washington Post.
Among the agencies that shut their doors was the Environmental Protection Agency, while the Department of Homeland Security continued to work throughout the shutdown, according to the Washington Post.
National parks and monuments, like the Lincoln Memorial and Yosemite, were closed due to the political impasse, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“If it [the shutdown] lasts a day or two, it won’t have any significant effect,” political science professor Charles Mahoney said. “If the Republicans want spending cuts, they should look in different areas.”
The shutdown has occurred because President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats rejected efforts by Republicans to influence change on the president’s Affordable Care Act, according to Reuters.
Republicans refused to fund the Affordable Care Act and were attempting to stop the new healthcare law, which opened its online marketplaces Tuesday, according to the LA Times. Democrats, however, refused to sign the changes.
The new healthcare program will continue functioning through the shutdown, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Cal State University Spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said that for the most part, the shutdown would affect only federally-funded campus programs in the CSU and that it would not directly affect students.
Terri Carbaugh, CSULB’s associate vice president for legislative and external relations, said that if the shutdown continues, grants from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Health and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services could be affected.
“We’re monitoring it very closely,” she said. “Those are [CSULB’s] primary sources of funding for those grant opportunities. We’re tracking them to make sure that the grant application opportunities continue and the money can still be accessed.”
So far, CSULB has not seen any major effects from the government shutdown.
The U.S. Passport Application Acceptance Office on campus, run by the U.S. State Department, has and will function under normal conditions through the shutdown, according to Administrative Assistant Loreta Careaga.
A CIA information session scheduled in the Career Development Center for Tuesday, however, was canceled due to the shutdown, according to Kalifa Sprowl, a receptionist for the center.
Until the Senate and House come to an agreement on a short-term or long-term spending bill, many doors of the government will remain closed.
Opinions Editor Shane Newell and City Editor Daniel Serrano contributed to this report.
