Looming shutdown threatens summer tourism, service disruptions
Courtesy / Matthew Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons
Gov. Paul LePage issued a statement Wednesday that if lawmakers fail to enact a budget by midnight June 30, all non-emergency state services will end temporarily.
With the clock quickly ticking toward a possible state government shutdown, Maine’s summer tourism season could get off to a bumpy start.
A shutdown will occur if lawmakers in Augusta don’t hammer out a budget deal by the stroke of midnight on Friday, though there’s a bit of weekend wiggle room due to Monday being a work day for state employees.
Charles Lawton, an economist formerly with Planning Decisions Inc., told Mainebiz that while it’s hard to put a figure to the potential economic cost of a shutdown, it will eat into tourism revenues just as the season kicks off, particularly if state parks are forced to close over the pre-July 4th weekend.
“To the extent that people cut short visits or delay a trip,” Lawton said, “that would be an irretrievable loss for somebody who owns a hotel with 100 rooms and all 100 are rented, and then all of a sudden people leave after two days or don’t show up.”
He added that while daily life wouldn't be disrupted by a shutdown from one day to the next, the nuisance factor, “more of a grinding down,” would increase over time.
The last shutdown occurred in 1991, when a budget impasse led to closures of courts, state parks, Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices and a disruption in road repairs that lasted several weeks.
This time, lawmakers are locking horns over the next two-year budget of around $7 billion, prompting a warning from Gov. Paul LePage that parts of the state government could shut down as early as Friday while insisting that state parks would stay open all weekend.
On Wednesday, LePage criticized Democrats for objecting to a fiscally responsible budget and insisted in a statement that the administration does not want a shutdown.
“However, we are taking every precaution to prepare for a government shutdown in case the Legislature fails to do its job,” he added.
State employees uneasy
Uncertainty over how long a shutdown might last has many state workers feeling uneasy.
The Maine State Employees Association, a union representing over 13,000 Maine workers, is keeping up pressure on lawmakers to hammer out a budget deal, with a call to action to gather at the State House through Friday.
“Show your legislators: Maine is Watching,” says a message on the union’s website. It warned earlier this week that a shutdown last for hours, days or weeks.
In a June 28 memo to state employees, LePage laid out what a shutdown would mean. “Should the new fiscal year begin without an approved budget in place,” he wrote, “I will be forced to declare a civil emergency, pursuant to the Maine Emergency Management Act, and implement a shutdown of most state government operations,” he wrote. In effect, that means halting all non-emergency state services.
But, offering some reassurances, LePage said that paychecks for June 28 and July 5 are expected to be processed and delivered on time for work performed in June, and that members of the state health plan will not be denied service.
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Gov. Paul LePage's memo to state employees about possible shutdown of state government
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