According to BOSTON (AP) [Boston.com] the effects under the federal shutdown will be felt across the state. The John F. Kennedy Museum, the U.S.S. Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument closed, and children at one Head Start program faced the loss of meals as Massachusetts grappled with the fallout of a partial government shutdown Tuesday.
The shutdown also forced the closure of the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick and prompted furloughs at Westover Air Reserve Base and Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield.
Many of the thousands of federal employees who live in Massachusetts were also out of work as a result of the shutdown.
An extended shutdown could have an even deeper impact on services, including prompting delays in providing winter heating assistance for low-income residents, according to Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. Without a federal budget bill, states cannot determine the level of benefits for the coming winter and local agencies won’t be able to process applications, he said.
