District Government Braces for Federal Government Shutdown

"We shouldn't even have to have this conversation" said Mayor Vincent Gray at the press briefing on the impact of a federal government shutdown on the local government of the District.

The District government cannot currently spend its own budget without Congressional action, which officials say is looking more unlikely by the day.

The Gray Administration has determined that some 21,000 of its 35,000 employees will be exempt from any furloughs. All other non-exempt personnel cannot work beginning Saturday April 9 at 12:01 a.m.

That means no accessing work blackberries or government computers. It also means those personnel cannot work, even on a volunteer basis, and may not receive pay, depending on Congress's decision after any impasse is resolved.

Essential personnel include the police department, fire and ems, public and charter schools and a limited number of health and human services departments.

Additionally, Gray administration staff worked with the Office of Management and Budget to have special election employees deemed essential so, if nothing else, the election scheduled for April 26 may proceed.

What would cease to function? The department of motor vehicles, D.C. public libraries, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Department of Transportation (DDOT), among others.

For residents that means trash collection will cease for the first week of a shutdown, but will begin again thereafter, streetsweeping will be temporarily discontinued and no parking tickets will be issued by DPW. MPD officers can still issue parking tickets for offenses like parking in front of fire hydrants.

DDOT will be able to address emergencies with a skeleton staff, but potholes and other nuisances will have to wait. Additionally, the agency's Circulator buses would no longer operate. (Metro has committed to operating on a regular schedule.)

What are Gray's fears about the shutdown and how it will reflect on D.C.?

"We take great pride in what we look like as a city," said Gray, trash piling up and massive potholes would impact the perception of the city.

A shutdown would mean fewer tourists and a loss of some $1.25 million a week in income from those visitors, according to Natwar Gandhi, the chief financial officer for D.C.

The briefing Wednesday was as much about the impact of a government shutdown as it was a chance for Gray and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to make a case for D.C. autonomy and voting rights.

"Budget autonomy is the essential point" said Norton. She said the Republicans in Congress have been "going out of their way" to make life harder for District residents. On the bright side, she added, "I don't think this is playing well in the public...we might get a new House of Representatives."

Gray echoed her sentiments, "It's just wrong and inappropriate for the D.C. government to be treated, in budget matters, like another federal agency and for our residents to be treated like second-class citizens."

A full list of agency statuses is available at dc.gov.