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Bay Area braces for day 1 of federal government shutdown
Expected impacts on Bay Area amid federal government shutdown.
SAN FRANCISCO - Tourists in San Francisco wondered if national parks would remain open through the week, hours before the federal government formally shut down at midnight on Wednesday, nearly seven years after Senate Democrats rejected a Republican-backed bill to keep funding the government.
Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Fleet Week
On Tuesday, some passengers on the ferry to Alcatraz said they made travel adjustments due to the potential shutdown.
"That's why we switched. We were going to go tomorrow, but we switched to today in case it closed," Daniel Welty, a tourist from Kansas said.
"It's like, come on guys, this affects more than you. It affects a lot of people. I'm really disappointed our government can't work together. I think that's what most of us wish," said Julia Welty, a tourist from Kansas.
Other tourist attractions, like Muir Woods, will be shutting down.
Government shutdown: What's open and closed in Golden Gate National Rec Area
The federal government on Wednesday officially shut down, meaning so did national parks and other sites owned and operated by the federal government. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area sent out a list of what is open and closed.
And the most popular elements of Fleet Week, including the military ships and Blue Angels, will not make it to San Francisco if a resolution isn't reached quickly. Fleet Week starts Oct. 11.
Tourists and Americans won't feel the effects of the shutdown in the first few days, but if it lasts as long as the one in 2018 – 35 days – that could be a different story.
" I don't think most people will necessarily feel this immediately," said Martha Gimble of the Budget Lab at Yale University. "The thing that will ramp up over time is people will start to call in sick or not be able to come in because they're doing other things to help their family out."
Furloughed federal workers
And aside from visiting national parks and tourist attractions, there is the matter of furloughed federal workers.
In California, that means 190,000 federal workers and more than 213,000 military workers will be without paychecks.
Jake Kennedy is a federal firefighter and president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1650, which represents firefighters.
"The majority of our folks are still paycheck to paycheck. You don't get rich working for the federal government and so when there's a delay whether it be a week, day, a month til those regular paychecks are coming in, it creates that personal hardship," Kennedy said.
John Almquist, is a retired IRS employee and now serves as regional vice-president for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, which represents about 133,000 union members nationwide.
Almquist says what is different about this shutdown compared to previous years, is that government departments have already seen deep staffing cuts, that have put more work on those employees who remain on the job.
"The last six months, over 100,000 federal employees have been laid off and 75,000 federal employees have been encouraged to take buyouts," Almquist said. "It's phenomenal the Social Security Administration, Medicare, IRS and VA are functioning at the level they are."
Bay Area Democrats
A number of Democratic Bay Area politicians are planning a news conference in Castro Valley on Wednesday to address the shutdown.
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, State Senator Jerry McNerney, Assemblymember Liz Ortega and Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Marquez said they plan to reaffirm their commitment to reopening the government, lowering costs, and protecting vital services.