JACKSON — The ongoing federal government shutdown is doing more damage in Mississippi than in most states, an analysis finds.
Mississippi ranks eighth, according to WalletHub, thanks in part to its share of federal workers and its dependence on federal programs.
At 26 days, the government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. The second-longest shutdown lasted 21 days in January 1996, when President Bill Clinton struggled to make a budget deal with a Republican Congress.
WalletHub determined Mississippi’s ranking after looking at all 50 states and the District of Columbia and considered in each the share of federal jobs, contract dollars per capita, the percent of families receiving food stamps, real estate as a percentage of gross product and national parks access.
At 18 percent, a higher percentage of Mississippi families receives SNAP, or food stamp, benefits than any state in the nation. The national average is 13 percent.
Earlier this month, the Mississippi Department of Health and Human Services announced that SNAP benefits for February would go out early on Jan. 17. The next SNAP payments will go out in March—if the president signs and funding bill, and the government reopens by then.
In Mississippi, more than 75 percent of SNAP beneficiaries are in families with children, and 33 percent are in families with elderly or disabled people. Despite the widespread myth that food-stamp recipients do not have jobs, 41 percent in Mississippi were in working families in 2017.
No Pay for FBI or TSA Agents; May Endanger Flying
In Mississippi, the shutdown affects about 500 U.S. Justice Department employees including FBI agents, more than 1,600 U.S. Agriculture Department employees and 400 NASA employees. They are among more than 800,000 federal employees who are working without pay or on furlough until the shutdown ends.
Other federal employees not receiving pay across the state include TSA agents at airports. Nationwide, TSA agents are calling in sick, and experts say it is making air travel more dangerous.
Yesterday marked the first time in history that members of the U.S. military did not receive pay due to a shutdown. On Tuesday, members of the U.S. Coast Guard did not receive paychecks. Mississippi has Coast Guard stations in Pascagoula, Natchez, and Gulfport.
The shutdown is affecting non-federal professionals across Mississippi, too, including realtors. Taryn Flint, a Biloxi realtor, told the Sun Herald earlier this month that she had a home sale that could not close because they needed a USDA loan guarantee.
Pelosi to Trump: Postpone State of the Union due to Shutdown
U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asked President Trump Wednesday to reschedule his State of the Union address or submit it in writing. It was planned for Jan. 29. The last time a president submitted a State of the Union address in writing, rather than delivering it before Congress, was President Jimmy Carter in 1981.
