2019 Government Shutdown Report: Most & Least Affected States

Posted by: John S Kiernan

As the clock struck midnight December 22, 2018, the United States government shut down for the 21st time in history. This time, it’s a less-intense partial shutdown, which occurs when Congress fails to pass necessary appropriations bills. The partial shutdown has lasted into the New Year, hitting the thirteen-day mark on January 3, 2019. For context, the longest shutdown ever was 21 days under President Bill Clinton, and only seven shutdowns have ever lasted ten days or longer. This is the third shutdown under the Trump administration, but the previous ones lasted only one day and three days, respectively.

When the government shuts down, certain federal employees work without pay or receive a furlough. This includes over 41,000 law enforcement officers, 52,000 IRS workers and 96 percent of NASA employees. “Non-essential” government services also remain inactive and certain benefits are liable to run out of funding. One of the main issues keeping the government in a partial shutdown at the moment is President Trump’s call for increased border security and funding for a border wall, to which Democrats in Congress remain opposed.

Some states are hit harder by a government shutdown than others. To determine the places most affected by the 2019 partial shutdown, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics. They range from each state’s share of federal jobs to federal contract dollars per capita to the share of families receiving food stamps. You can check out the findings below, followed by a complete description of our methodology.

1. Main Findings
2. Red vs. Blue States
3. Methodology

Main Findings

Embed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/1111/geochart-gov-shutdown.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="http://bit.ly/2Dq4PLy>  

States Most & Least Affected by a Government Shutdown

Overall Rank (1 = Most Affected)	State	Total Score		Overall Rank (1 = Most Affected)	State	Total Score
1	District of Columbia	78.59		27	Vermont	30.46
2	New Mexico	65.95		28	Texas	29.59
3	Maryland	65.70		29	Utah	29.05
4	Hawaii	62.91		30	Connecticut	29.00
5	Alaska	61.08		31	Colorado	28.42
6	Virginia	56.61		32	Nevada	28.35
7	West Virginia	46.25		33	Pennsylvania	27.20
8	Mississippi	45.56		34	Massachusetts	27.09
9	Alabama	43.46		35	New York	27.08
10	Arizona	40.73		36	Delaware	26.98
11	Rhode Island	37.74		37	California	26.65
12	Montana	37.28		38	North Carolina	26.64
13	Maine	36.57		39	Arkansas	25.82
14	Florida	36.25		40	Michigan	24.96
15	Oregon	36.08		41	Illinois	24.76
16	Oklahoma	35.87		42	Ohio	24.66
17	Kentucky	35.81		43	North Dakota	23.69
18	Washington	35.71		44	New Jersey	19.30
19	Georgia	35.50		45	Kansas	18.84
20	Wyoming	33.01		46	Wisconsin	17.56
21	South Carolina	32.88		47	Indiana	17.02
22	South Dakota	32.62		48	Iowa	16.49
23	Tennessee	32.55		49	Nebraska	16.40
24	Louisiana	32.36		50	New Hampshire	15.59
25	Idaho	32.20		51	Minnesota	10.54
26	Missouri	32.15

 

Red vs. Blue States

 

Methodology

States depend on the federal government for a great deal, from employment to key benefits. To measure the relative impact of the January 2019 partial government shutdown on each state, as well as the District of Columbia, WalletHub identified five basic metrics that speak to how people across the country will be affected by the absence of government services.

Finally, we analyzed publicly available data from official sources to score the shutdown’s impact by state, according to the following rubric. Each metric was scored on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the biggest impact from the government shutdown. We then determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to construct our final ranking.

• Share of Federal Jobs: Double Weight (~28.57 Points)Note: This metric measures the federal employment as a share of total employment.
• Federal Contract Dollars Per Capita: Full Weight (~14.29 Points)
• % of Families Receiving SNAP (Food Stamps): Double Weight (~28.57 Points)Note: SNAP funding will continue during the 2019 partial shutdown, but could eventually run out.
• Real Estate as Percentage of Gross State Product: Full Weight (~14.29 Points)Note: Gross State Product is the equivalent of GDP but at the state level. Mortgage processing will be affected by staffing shortages in the IRS, FHA and VA.
• Access to National Parks: Full Weight (~14.29 Points)Note: This metric measures both the number of national parks per capita and the acres of national parks per capita. During the 2019 partial shutdown, park staffing has been cut significantly.

 

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, usaspending.gov, National Association of Realtors and National Park Service.

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