News

Actions

Employees, businesses to suffer from government shutdown

Posted at 5:41 PM, Oct 01, 2013
and last updated 2013-10-01 20:15:36-04

OGDEN -- Thousands of workers showed to Hill Air Force Base Tuesday only to be turned around.

The government shutdown could take a big toll on Weber and Davis Counties where two of the biggest federal employers are established – HAFB and the Ogden IRS Center.

The government shut down Tuesday morning after Washington politicians could not come to an agreement on the budget. The center of the controversy is President Barack Obama's Affordable Healthcare Act.

Allison Christensen, IRS employee, got an email telling her to stay home. She’s a working mom and the primary bread winner for a family that lives paycheck to paycheck.

Christensen said this will impact how she pays her mortgage and how she puts food on the table.

“We are going to be OK for right now and I’ll budget,” she said. “We won’t be going out to eat. We won’t be buying anything non-essential. The grocery list is going to consist of the bare necessities because I don’t know what’s going to happen in a day – I don’t know what’s going to happen in two weeks.”

The shutdown is also affecting businesses within walking distance of some of these agencies.

One business owner said many of their regulars are federal government employees.

William Shafer, owner of Lucky Slice Pizza, said the business could be impacted if this continues much longer.

“The furloughs just started last night – as of right now I’m about 200 behind my daily averages,” Shafer said. “I don’t know if that’s directly related or if it’s just a slow Tuesday.”