GOSHEN COUNTY – Goshen County is more than 1,600 miles from Washington, D.C. The center of the city of Torrington is more than 860 miles from the nearest section of the Mexican border.
But despite all of those miles between here and there, the standoff between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over border security measures – and the construction of a border wall – has hit home for people in Goshen County.
It’s getting bigger than delayed tax refunds and repetitive internet memes for an ever-growing number of Goshen County residents. Some of them, like Bobbi Jo Heller-Stuck, have been furloughed from their jobs. Others, like Danielle Murphy, never thought a government shutdown would affect them – until it did.
The shutdown affected Heller-Stuck and Murphy in different ways, but there was one similarity in their stories: They are both fed-up with the actions – and inactions – on both sides of aisle.
“They’re acting like kids,” Murphy said. “This is behavior I would expect to see out of my 11- and 13-year-old boys, not the people who are running this country.”
“Any good daycare provider could put a stop to this problem,” Heller-Stuck said. “We’re taught very young to share, to get along, to compromise. Our government can’t seem to do that.”
Direct impact
The federal government shutdown has dragged on for 33 days.
Mainstream media relays that number every day. Social media is full of cheeky tweets from talking heads representing both sides of the border security debate, and the only thing missing in all of the discussion is what Heller-Stuck needs – some answers.
Heller-Stuck said she loves her job at the United States Census Bureau, where she compiles statistics concerning the employment rate in Goshen County. She hasn’t received a paycheck since the shutdown began – and her family is starting to feel it.
“I have an 11 -year-old, and I let him know the other day that if we don’t have money for a wall, we don’t have money for pop at supper time,” she said.
“It’s tough because he’s on a traveling basketball team. We have to scrape up the money to get to the games, we have to scrape up the money to get basketball shoes. You don’t want him to be embarrassed by it. He actually told one of the teachers at school that, if they had any extra snacks, we could use them at our house.”
Heller-Stuck’s family still has a dependable income from her husband’s job at the Wyoming Department of Transportation, but the family’s total income has been cut in half. Unfortunately, their bills haven’t, and the family has had to prioritize.
“Electricity is the most important, because we live out in the country and we don’t have any water without electricity,” she said. “We have to keep the gas bill going. I have had to defer car payments – I’m on my second month of deferring car payments. I’m going to have to defer our house payment, and we only have a little over $3,000 left on our house, so I’m praying it doesn’t affect our home.”
When the news of the shutdown broke, Heller-Stuck knew she would be affected, but the nuances of the situation weren’t yet clear. As the shutdown drags on, she still works from home to perform essential tasks, which usually take between 10 to 20 hours each week. She’ll be paid for her time when the shutdown is over – but only for the time she worked. For as long as the shutdown lasts, Heller-Stuck and her family will only receive a fraction of what she normally makes.
And that’s after she pays the government back for covering her insurance premiums during the shutdown.
“It’s been about four weeks without a paycheck,” she said. “When we finally do we get paid, part of it will go to pay back the government for my insurance. Every week that we’re not working, they’re paying our insurance and retirement. We have to reimburse them for that.”
To sum it all up, Heller-Stuck is furloughed from her government job, but still has to perform some of the most important parts of it. Currently, she isn’t being paid for her work, but she will be paid when the government shutdown is over – but only the actual hours worked, not the hours she was furloughed. Those hours are, according to her, just enough to disqualify her from unemployment assistance. Once she receives her partial paycheck at the conclusion of the shutdown, a large portion of it will go back to the government to pay it back for her insurance.
Heller said she feels trapped by the situation.
“That money is gone,” she said. “If I got a loan from the bank, I couldn’t pay it back because I didn’t earn enough.”
A surprise impact
When the federal shutdown began in December, Danielle Murphy didn’t think it would affect her or her family.
She doesn’t work for the government. She doesn’t rely on government benefits. But, if this shutdown continues for another few weeks, it could cost her $1,300 each month the shutdown continues. Murphy bought her house through a United States Department of Agriculture loan program, and pays into an escrow account. Her homeowner’s insurance is paid out of that escrow account.
As a result of the shutdown, Murphy does not have access to that escrow account, and neither do her lenders. In February, the insurance payment is due.
“I know I paid into my escrow and I have that money, but are they going to pay it?” she said. “I don’t know. It’s not like I can call and ask them. It’s not like I can come up with $1,300. I’m afraid of not knowing until it’s not paid.
“I plan to call the insurance company to see what we do in that event. I’m hoping they would work with us, but I don’t know.”
Murphy’s case is just one example of how far the federal shutdown can reach. Murphy lives in a rural area, and said she’s not the only person in the area with a USDA loan.
“It’s kind of scary, especially living in a rural community,” she said. “We probably have a lot of homeowners who have their loans through the USDA. There are probably a lot more people than people think.
“We’re now realizing how far it actually stretches. We’ve always had sympathy for the federal employees that are having to work without a paycheck, or they’re furloughed without a paycheck. Realizing how far it really extends is eye-opening.”
‘Political mess’
Unfortunately for Heller-Stuck, Murphy and the countless others who are feeling the impact of the shutdown, Politico.com reported on Wednesday that there still doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight. The same report said members of congress met for less than three hours on Wednesday, and they didn’t break into any committees or conduct any polls. In the halls afterward, no one had a strategy to end the shutdown.
Governor Mark Gordon (R) voiced frustration with the shutdown during a press conference earlier this month, but did not say if the state government could offer any assistance to the furloughed workers.
“What I have to say is that I hope Washington gets reasonable soon, and that we get passed this impasse because it is unfortunate for our federal employees and it’s unfortunate for those that have been caught in this political mess,” Gordon said.
“I’d like to see that happen first and foremost. I know our delegation is interested in doing that, not by compromising border security but by finding a responsible solution as we go forwards. I will certainly do everything in my power to support their efforts to find a compromise that works.”
As the debate continues in the news media and online, the frustration caused by the shutdown spreads further every day. Murphy said the most frustrating part is it seems to be a matter of pride for both Trump and his dissenters to not give in to the opposition’s wishes – but the victims of their hubris are people far away from Washington, including Heller-Stuck and Murphy and thousands more like them across the country.
“It’s hard for me because I think that it’s a lot of pride,” Murphy said. “That’s what’s going on now. People aren’t really realizing how
far it reaches.”
