ACADIA, Maine — Federal employees in Maine are keeping a close watch on Congress as the risk of a government shutdown becomes closer.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said a shutdown would leave more than 11,000 government employees in Maine without pay. Those workers include TSA workers, some people who serve in the military, Air Force, and National Guard, and those who work for Acadia National Park.
"This is so unfair to our hardworking federal employees and their families and the communities in which they live," Collins said. "It is just never the right approach, and it ends up costing the federal government, the taxpayers, more money."
Collins said the last government shutdown under the Trump administration in 2018 cost taxpayers an extra $3 to $4 billion. She said during the shutdown that occurred in 2013 under the Obama administration, the government paid an estimate of $400 million in increased interest costs.
"That's taxpayer dollars that didn't go to good programs or to improve our border security, or strengthen our national defense," Collins said. "They are just essentially wasted."
Collins said she will be working night and day to try to prevent the shutdown from happening.
"It's a terrible failure to govern effectively, by Congress, by the administration," Collins said. "I just want Mainers to know I share their outrage over this situation. We should not be on the brink of a shutdown, and people who, on both sides of the aisle, who are using this crisis as an opportunity to score political points are terribly misguided and hurting our country."
If the government is shutdown, federal workers who get furloughed will qualify for unemployment benefits, but they would have to pay the money back.
Collins said federal workers who are considered essential would have to continue to report to work, but they would not be paid. They also would not qualify for unemployment benefits, and there would be no assistance available to help financially support them until the shutdown ends.
"We need to put together a bill that will tide us over in the short term to prevent these disruptive impacts on families in Maine, on small businesses, on our national park at Acadia", Collins said.
Some tourists visiting Acadia Park said they have already spent money on travel and passes to visit the park. Tourist Marc Fleming said he came all the way from Maryland to visit the park, and it would be a real shame not to be able to visit the park because of political disagreements.
Fleming also said the cost of living is extremely high, and Americans can't afford to miss pay.
"These are people's lives. These are people who are using money to pay for food, pay for medicine, pay for their families," Fleming said. "And not being able to get them that money that they deserve is a real shame. I think the government does need to do something about that, like yesterday."
Christine Canning said she visited the park Friday, but she originally planned to buy passes for Sunday. She said she just found out that the park will be closed if there is a shutdown, and she hopes the government works together to make sure everyone is working and being paid to work by Monday.
"Shutting down a national park. . . they're national treasures. And at the end of the day, they were built for the people," Canning said. "So, I wish the bipartisan, the Democrats, the Republicans, could come together and say to themselves, 'It's not about me. It's not about who sponsors me. It's about the people who need to be here' to be outside."
Collins said the Senate is working to put together a short-form continuing resolution that will fund the government until mid-November, giving them extended time to agree on and enact 12 bill appropriations.
The Senate has until 12 a.m. on Oct. 1 to vote on the continued resolution that would keep the government open.