Congress has been in a flurry recently trying to pass a spending bill to avoid shutting down the government.
Health benefits, defense spending, border security amongst many other issues is what contributed to congress missing the deadline on April 21 and filing an extension for another week.
President Donald Trump signed into law a one-week extension keeping the government open and gave congress more time to negotiate a deal.
What exactly is a government shutdown and how does it work?
“All government funded programs would be shut down which obviously helps a lot of people out there,” said Brianna Sessler, Delta College student.
Every year Congress goes through a process of congressional budgeting all the members of the House make, then pass on to the president to sign into law.
Problems arise when the president doesn’t agree with what the congress is trying to pass, so it gets sent back.
Most Delta College students didn’t know what a government shutdown was or how college would be affected.
“No, I haven’t heard anything, and I’m not sure how a shutdown happens,” said Delta College student and information desk employee Katrina Quevedo.
There have been 17 prior instances since the modern congressional budgeting process took effect in 1976 where this has happened. The most recent government shutdowns took place back in 1995 and 1996.
“I never heard of a government shutdown but if there is no money in the government then wouldn’t Delta shut down?” asked Delta College student and bookstore employee Amber Wong.
In 1996, Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Senate and the House were at an impasse.
The GOP-led congress then sent Clinton a bill that raised Medicare premiums, and decreased environmental regulations prompting the President to veto the bill, thus causing the shutdown.
A short-term resolution was reached, the president and senate agreed to keep the government functioning at 75 percent for four weeks until all the details are hashed out and Clinton signed the bill.
In the time that the government was shut down, government workers still came to work.
Furloughs were in place, with back pay given later.
“If the government did shut down, I wouldn’t be willing to work for free or furlough, probably not,” said Quevedo.
When the government shuts down many government programs are stopped until a new bill is passed.
Potential shutdowns include National parks, zoo’s, museums and post offices.
It’s especially bad for anyone looking to purchase a home because there are no federal funds available during a shutdown, as well as anyone looking for a gun permit because ATF is also shut down.
Although it’s called a government shutdown, not everything stops.
For example, the military keeps working, and we still must pay our taxes.
It’s been 21 years since we have been in this type of a situation, and again it’s come down to similar tactics.
The difference is that the senate, house and president are all Republicans.
Trump wanted some border wall spending in the bill, which congress did not give him.
During a week-long extension, the two sides reached middle ground on April 30.
A deal was reached on a bill that is over $1 trillion to fund the government for the rest of the year that included $15 billion in defense spending instead of the $30 billion Trump wanted, and $1.5 billion for border security instead of the $3 billion the president wanted.
