Our View

What happens in Washington, D.C. often seems to stay in Washington, D.C., at least from the perspective of those of us living in the boonies. By the time they reach us, it feels like the ripples of legislation are too gentle to be felt.

But when it comes to the longest government shutdown in American history, the opposite has proven to be true: it’s our friends and neighbors who are suffering the fallout, not Congress and the presidential administration.

You’ve probably heard the estimates that 800,000 American people are still working without pay or twiddling their thumbs at home, waiting to be allowed to return to work. You may not know, however, that Wyoming is feeling the hurt from this more than most other states: according to the New York Times, our state has the fourth highest number of affected federal employees in the country at 131 in every 10,000 workers.

Decisions made so far away often make for interesting news stories, but they don’t always feel urgent from a distance. This is different. What could be more urgent than a hit of this magnitude to the welfare of people we know and care about?

These people are living next door to us, taking care of our forests and agricultural needs, waving at us in the supermarket and chatting to us during the school drop-off. This is not a distant issue, it’s right here in our communities.

The livelihoods of our friends and neighbors are not tools to make a political point. Refusing to negotiate does not make you seem strong and determined. It doesn’t make us believe any harder that you’re the kind of person who keeps their campaign promises. It does nothing more productive than prove the system has flaws, because it should not be the workers on the ground who pay the price for your inaction.

The welfare of 800,000 people and their families is not a political tool. It does not matter what one feels about whether there’s a need for a border wall. Making sure we get one – or that we don’t – is not the responsibility of Forest Service employees whose daily routine is to ensure our forests stay healthy and make sure prescribed burns happen on time.

It is not the responsibility of Devils Tower National Monument employees whose daily tasks include explaining the history of the site and keeping walkways safe for visitors. It is not the responsibility of USDA employees who help us manage our land and conserve our natural resources.

It is also not the responsibility of the stores these people can no longer patronize, the restaurants they can’t eat in and the landlords who can’t collect their rent. It is not the responsibility of the people who aren’t sure it’s safe to fly home right now, those who aren’t sure their food is safe to eat while fewer food inspections are happening or those whose cases cannot be heard in federal court.

To all those in D.C. who have left our friends without means to feed their families and pay the rent: you have not done what we are paying you to do. You have let down 800,000 people, their spouses and dependents and those of us who care about them and rely on the work they do. You have failed us – and something needs to be done to ensure it never happens again.

For this reason, we at the Times support Senators Barrasso and Enzi in their efforts to sponsor legislation introduced on Friday that would prevent any future federal government shutdowns. Called the End Government Shutdowns Act, it would automatically continue funding programs for which a budget has not been approved.

We exist in an era when common-sense legislation seems to have a difficult time reaching the finish line, but it is at least a positive idea. Such a law would not fix the damage that has been done to paychecks and ways of life – the ship has sailed on that one and, at time of writing, continues on its crash course forward. But with the trauma of the shutdown fresh in our minds, now is the time to support an idea that could protect our people in the future.