Will The Budget Battle Spoil Fourth Of July Fun In Washington State Parks?

File photo. A partial government shutdown in Washington state would mean state parks closing just in time for the Fourth of July holiday. WASHINGTON STATE PARKS - TINYURL.COM/Y8ZLZ8CA

Listen

If Washington lawmakers don’t pass a state budget by June 30, the state will go into a partial government shutdown. And the impacts would be significant.

So what would that look like?

It would look like is about 30,000 state employees being furloughed or temporarily laid off. It would look like state parks closing just in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

If Washington State Parks were to close during the first week of July, it would affect an estimated 1.4 million park goers.

In addition, many state services would be curtailed or limited. For instance, prisons would still operate but community corrections where they supervise former inmates in the community would cease to happen.

We’ve been here before—in 2015 and 2013 the state went right up to the edge, preparing for a government shutdown. It didn’t happen, but some government insiders have said that this is the point at which they start to get nervous.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network. To see more, visit Northwest News Network.

Related Stories:

The Calistoga Reach Levee Set Back in Pierce County is an engineered levee set back to help the river flow in a more natural way. The project was part of a larger Floodplains by Design grant. // Courtesy the Washington State Department of Ecology

Rethinking levees to reduce flood risk

Washington Rep. Steve Tharinger of the 24th district became intimately acquainted with levee setbacks when he discovered the levee protecting his house on the lower Dungeness River was not only not protecting his house, but harming the ecosystem too.
“I sold my house and the five acres in a barn we had, so that we’d have more room to move that levee back and give the river more room,” Tharinger said. Continue Reading Rethinking levees to reduce flood risk

Read More »
A woman and her baby are pictured in front a blurred forest scene near sunset. She's smiling toward the camera. She has shoulder-length brown hair that's parted in the center and is wearing a grey sweater. Her baby looks toward the right and has chubby cheeks and is wearing a red and black plaid long-sleeve top and blue jeans.

‘It happened exactly the way we all had feared’: Idaho women sue state for failure to protect patients with pregnancies that threatened life and health

An Idaho woman worried a year ago what might happen to her family if she needed an abortion after the state’s ban took effect. That fear came true. Now, the Caldwell woman is suing. Continue Reading ‘It happened exactly the way we all had feared’: Idaho women sue state for failure to protect patients with pregnancies that threatened life and health

Read More »