As the federal government shutdown continues — with no clear end in sight — you may be wondering what the shutdown could mean for folks locally. From ACA subsidies to SNAP benefits, the potential impacts of the shutdown don't seem to be evident locally — yet.
Here's what we know since the government shutdown Oct. 1; but first, how did we get here?
Simply put, the Senate has repeatedly failed to agree on new spending bills proposed by both Democrats and Republicans.
More specifically, the shutdown was caused by a partisan argument over if and when lawmakers need to act to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which some 24 million people use to buy health insurance plans, NPR reports.
"Prominent Republican lawmakers have claimed the Democrats are looking to provide tax dollars to help pay for the heath care of undocumented immigrants. That is not true.
"Democrats in the Senate refused to vote for the Republican short-term funding bill that passed the House but did not include an extension of the health care tax credits. Democrats are also hoping to repeal cuts to health care programs that were put in place as part of the GOP spending and tax bill that passed over the summer."
What's at stake locally?
Click any link below to jump to that section.
- Medicaid
- Affordable Care Act
- SNAP
- WIC
- TSA
- Local furloughs
- Federal courts
- Federal offices
- National parks and attractions
Medicaid
The GOP wants to pass a federal budget that preserves large cuts to Medicaid which lawmakers passed over the summer in the Trump administration’s so-called "Big Beautiful Bill." The spending reductions are a way to partially offset tax cuts. Democrats, however, want those health care cuts rolled back and have said they’ll refuse to pass a budget without restoration of Medicaid funding.
The Medicaid reductions come mostly in the form of 80-hour per month work requirements for people seeking the health care benefits, including parents with children over the age of 13. Some analysts, including the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, estimate those work requirements and the sometimes-complicated paperwork required to meet them will push between 10 million and 15 million people off the program over the next decade.
Senate Democrats have estimated that could include:
- 17,950 people in Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes Northern Kentucky
- 14,047 people in Ohio’s First Congressional District, which includes parts of Hamilton and Warren counties
- 19,274 people in Ohio’s Second Congressional District, which includes Clermont County
- 15,560 people in Ohio’s Eighth Congressional District, which includes parts of Hamilton and Butler counties
- 12,398 people in Indiana’s Ninth Congressional District, which includes the southeastern part of the state near Cincinnati
ACA subsidies
In addition to pushing for elimination of the Medicaid cuts, Democrats say they’re also holding out for a budget that renews subsidies for people buying health insurance on marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act. This federal help keeps premiums for low- and moderate-income people at affordable levels. They’re set to expire at the end of the year, at which time health insurance companies will increase premiums by 100% or more in many cases.
“Of the 22 to 24 million Americans who rely on these ACA subsidies, about four or five million Americans will lose their health care altogether,” Rep. Greg Landsman, a Democrat, told reporters recently. “They just won’t be able to pay for their health care.”
Data on the impact of expiring ACA subsidies vary slightly. Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest something like 3.8 million more people could become uninsured on average each year if the subsidies go away. Here is who relies on the ACA subsidies locally, according to data from KFF, a nonpartisan health care research organization.
- Ohio 1st Congressional District: 37,000 people. The average premium could go up by 79%, with increases by as much as 200% for some seniors. Analysis by the Urban Institute suggests 7,000 of those people could lose their coverage entirely.
- Ohio 2nd Congressional District: 29,000 people. Average premium could rise by 85% and spike by as much as 215% for some seniors. The Urban Institute's study suggests 9,000 stand to lose coverage.
- Ohio 8th Congressional District: 32,000 people. Average premium could go up by 84% and rise as much as 207% for some seniors. Estimates from UI say 7,000 could lose coverage.
- Kentucky 4th Congressional District: 11,000 people, including 3,000 who could lose coverage, according to data from UI. Premiums could go up as much as 232% for some seniors.
- Indiana 9th Congressional District: 29,000 people. About 11,000 could lose coverage under UI's projections. Average premium could rise by 71% and go up for some seniors by as much as 165%.
KFF data suggests premiums for people currently using the ACA subsidies could increase by as much as 165% in many areas locally.
The shutdown has caused uncertainty about the future availability of benefits funded by the federal government. Those benefits have different budgets and are funded on different timelines.
SNAP benefits
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often called food stamps, went out as usual Oct. 1, including in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. However, it’s unclear what will happen if the budget impasse continues into the next month.
“SNAP is funded by the federal government so you could be impacted by the shutdown, depending on how long it lasts,” a statement on the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ website says. “You will be paid normally for October. We don’t know what could happen if the shutdown lasts past October.”
Here’s who used SNAP benefits locally in 2023, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
- Ohio 1st Congressional District: About 41,000 households, about 12% of all households
- Ohio 2nd Congressional District: About 44,000 households, or 14% of all households
- Ohio 8th Congressional District: About 30,000 households, or 10% of all households
- Kentucky 4th Congressional District: About 28,000 households, or 9% of all households
- Indiana 9th Congressional District: About 20,000 households, or 6% of all households
WIC benefits
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children Program gets roughly $8 billion a year in federal funding. It serves roughly 6 million families across the country and about 179,000 in Ohio. That includes about 16,000 families in Hamilton County every month, according to a spokesperson for the Cincinnati Health Department, which helps administer the program in the county.
About $150 million in federal contingency funding tapped for WIC could run out in the next two weeks, PBS reports. The Associated Press reports the Trump Administration has said it will funnel another $300 million into the program as the shutdown continues.
A Cincinnati Health Department spokesperson says states can tap their general fund to fill gaps, something Ohio is believed to be poised to do should federal money run out. There is uncertainty across the region about what will happen depending on how long the shutdown lasts, however.
“WIC clinics in Hamilton County are open for business and providing services,” a response from the health department said. “Once federal funds are exhausted, states can use their general funds to fill in the gap. However, a prolonged federal government shutdown puts infants and young children at risk. Families may lose access to infant formula, breastfeeding support, and other critical WIC services.”
The Northern Kentucky Health Department says WIC is functioning as usual until further notice.
"Kentucky WIC is in frequent contact with federal partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and they are monitoring the situation closely and doing everything possible to ensure continued services to Kentucky WIC families," the health department posted in a Facebook statement Oct. 1.
TSA
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport responded to an email from WVXU saying it is "monitoring the situation closely and keeping communication channels open with our federal partners."
Various reports on social media say wait times at checkpoints are nothing out of the ordinary. The airport displays TSA wait times on its website.
Local furloughs
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
The Trump administration eliminated most of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s 1,100 workers in May, then brought about 300 back a few weeks later. That included a small number spread across two NIOSH facilities in Cincinnati. Union representatives say all but a handful of those employees are now furloughed, and the rest are working without a paycheck.
NIOSH has two offices in Cincinnati — Pleasant Ridge's Alice Hamilton Laboratory for Occupational Safety and Health and Linwood's Robert A. Taft Occupational Safety and Health Laboratory. Prior to Trump’s staff reductions earlier this year, about 400 employees in total were roughly equally distributed between the two.
Micah Niemeier-Walsh is the vice president for Cincinnati's chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees. She says all but a few employees in select departments like the World Trade Center Health Program are now off the job.
“The vast majority of people are currently furloughed except … a handful of folks. And my understanding is they’re working without pay,” she says of remaining Cincinnati employees.
Niemeier-Walsh also is one of the remaining NIOSH workers now furloughed from her job. She says the work stoppage will have real impacts on occupational safety for workers across the country.
“The handful of us who were reinstated, now our research has stopped as well,” she says. “I work in the firefighter health program and I was trying to get a paper published to try and get some data out there for the firefighter service. Now that’s been delayed.”
Niemeier-Walsh says many of her colleagues are extremely frustrated by the situation.
“I think at this point, people are just angry,” she says. “I think a lot of folks are sick of feeling like we’re being used as political pawns when we have a very important mission of serving the American people. We feel like we’re being held hostage over a political game.”
Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has started sending furlough notices to employees, but a local union leader says he hasn’t heard of any Cincinnati-based workers being sent home yet.
Michael Ottlinger is president of the National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 279, representing EPA employees in Cincinnati.
He says it’s hard to determine exactly how many people work for the EPA locally. The number has been shrinking as the Trump administration cuts staffing and carries out a reorganization of the agency.
As recently as 2017, the EPA employed about 1,000 people in Cincinnati, more than half of them federal workers. Since then, hundreds have taken deferred resignation offers, been fired or left for work elsewhere.
The EPA has five laboratory facilities in Cincinnati, including the 22-acre Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center near the University of Cincinnati. It’s the agency’s second-largest research and development facility and is internationally recognized for water research, bioremediation and pollution prevention, according to the EPA.
The shutdown is creating confusion and uncertainty for employees, Ottlinger told WVXU last week.
“People are distressed,” Ottlinger said. “They're worried about whether they're going to be paid, particularly younger families, they don't have a surplus of money. They're trying to pay mortgages. They're paying for their cars. They're paying kids’ tuition, they're paying for schools, they're paying for groceries. They don't know what's going on.”
In a statement last Tuesday, the EPA wrote that it’s operating according to its “lapse plan.”
According to the plan, of the more than 15,000 agency employees, just 1,734 should be retained during a shutdown. The rest should be furloughed.
Ottlinger says Cincinnati-based staff reported to work this past week. Monday was a federal holiday.
He says employees are doing their “level best.” But, he says he’s upset by the situation.
“I have never seen the government show such disregard for loyal employees and their families,” Ottlinger said. “They started out insulting them. They've done everything they can to distress them. They're trying to intimidate them. They’re now coercing the Congress by threatening federal employees and threatening to do things that can't be reversed.”
In a statement, an EPA spokesperson wrote, “Congressional Democrats have chosen to shut down the government. If they want to re-open the government, they can choose to do so at any time.”
Federal courts
For now, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is open, as is the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Covington.
"Cases scheduled to be heard during this period will go forward unless the panel for a case directs otherwise. All filing deadlines must be met," a notice posted on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals website reads.
Parker Perry, public information officer for the Potter Stewart courthouse wrote this in an email to WVXU: “Thank you for reaching out to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The Court is open today. All judicial operations will continue through Friday, October 17 by using court fees and other available balances. Should fees and balances be exhausted before Congress enacts a continuing resolution or full-year funding, the Judiciary would then operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act. Federal courts would continue operating but would be limited to activities needed to support the exercise of the Judiciary’s constitutional functions and to address emergency circumstances.”
Federal entities
- Cincinnati Taxpayer Assistance Center — nothing posted on IRS site; no local phone answered.
- John Weld Peck Federal Office Building — "[General Service Administration] buildings will remain open under agency plans," a GSA spokesperson told WVXU, adding, "Democrats should join Republicans to reopen the government quickly and put the American people first."
- Cincinnati Social Security offices — all offices in Ohio, as well as in Kentucky and Indiana, are open at this time, according to the agency's website. However, employees at various field offices tell NPR they are unable to carry some services, such as providing benefit verification letters to people calling in to request them.
- Cincinnati FBI office — open.
National parks and attractions
- William Howard Taft National Historic Site — closed
- National Museum of United States Air Force — closed
This article will be updated.
— With reporting by Zack Carreon, Becca Costello, Isabel Nissley, Nick Swartsell, and Tana Weingartner
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