Virginia government shutdown threatened

To be perfectly honestly, I don’t think I will even notice if they shut down except in the media. I highly doubt they would shut down any trails to commuters because even NPS in their let’s piss off the world mentality didn’t do it.

@Terpfan 83374 wrote:

To be perfectly honestly, I don’t think I will even notice if they shut down except in the media. I highly doubt they would shut down any trails to commuters because even NPS in their let’s piss off the world mentality didn’t do it.

You must not rely on things like food stamps or medicaid. And live in a region (NoVa) where the schools don’t rely heavily on the Commonwealth.

Of course the shutdown would come AFTER finals…

j/k, I’ll take a fully functioning government, even if that means my papers still have to be turned in, thank you very much.

@lordofthemark 83390 wrote:

I presume the school systems will be able to shuffle funds around (spend more local funds now, and their state funds later – ditto for the public U’s) to get by. Maybe ditto for NVRPA, Im not sure.

My understanding is that some school systems in the Commonwealth don’t have enough local funds to shuffle around, and will have to issue pink slips (even if they will rehire those people if/when the money comes in)

@DismalScientist 83401 wrote:

And it’s all the Republican fault because the Democrats won’t blink and Republicans don’t have the right to take a similar position.

Can we talk about The Rules instead?

@DismalScientist 83401 wrote:

And it’s all the Republican fault because the Democrats won’t blink and Republicans don’t have the right to take a similar position.

I don’t want to hijack the thread, so let’s talk this over with a few beers some day, like we were when the shutdown happened.

@dasgeh 83387 wrote:

You must not rely on things like food stamps or medicaid. And live in a region (NoVa) where the schools don’t rely heavily on the Commonwealth.

You’re correct, I don’t receive SNAP (food stamps is a fairly dated and some would argue, non-pc term) or Medicaid/CHIP benefits as about 12% of Virginians do. I think those on SNAP will certainly notice the difference as the distribution points are toward the beginning of the month. But that’s all the state’s cost is–distribution. It’s a federally funded program. On the Medicaid side of the equation, it’s the providers that will feel the pinch because their payments will be delayed (in theory, non-existent, but in almost all government shutdowns the services rendered are retroactively funded). I doubt those currently seeing patients will turn them away under the premise that Medicaid currently isn’t funded. And those providers will notice the impact depending on their billing timeliness toward the end of the month as the system has never paid out instantaneously. There is also the question of the legality because providing Medicaid requires a state match (50% I think for VA).

The schools in NOVA actually rely on Commonwealth aid significantly less than schools Commonwealth-wide. In FFX’s case, it’s 15.7% of their budget versus 34.8% average statewide (I say state here because FFX’s guide refers to it as state aid, but I tend to agree with your use of Commonwealth as that’s what it is). The dedicated revenue from the sales tax to the school system won’t be affected because it’s a statutory provision (ie, a dedicated fund). And we’re talking about July, when I suspect many systems aren’t in full swing. It’ll have ancillary effect on their facility usage and of course on employees, but on the student body the impact will be largely negligible unless it draws into mid-August.

I think you mistake my honesty for being crass. I feel bad for those impacted, but I don’t think my statement was inaccurate in any sense and I think my feelings toward it are inconsequential. And in another life, I’ve been involved heavily in the budgeting process (albeit, not in VA) so far from aloof, I’m quite aware of the mechanics. The flip side is knowing how you can play around with transfers from various funds, not pay the unfilled pins, and any number of gimmicks that routinely buy you weeks. Anyway, so, I return to my original point in posting in that I do not expect the paths to be an issue.