The last time a budget crisis forced the federal government to close its doors, Social Security Administration paralegal Elaine Mitchell relied on a credit card for some expenses, made partial payments on monthly bills and burned through savings to keep her family afloat while she was out of work.
With the prospect of another government shutdown looming this week, the 59-year-old Clinton woman isn't sure she'll be able to count on the same backstops this time. For starters, she said, the interest rate on her credit card is higher than it was during the shutdown in 1995. And these days, she said, she mostly lives from paycheck to paycheck.
"I have a little bit saved up, but how long will savings last?" said Mitchell, a union steward for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 14,615 federal workers who live in Maryland. "People are anxious."
As Congress and the White House near Friday's deadline to reach a compromise on a spending plan or face a widespread shutdown, thousands of Maryland-based federal employees, businesses, and scientists are in a state of limbo, unsure whether the federal grant, work order or paycheck they rely on will materialize next week.
A shutdown would also have a far-reaching impact on state residents with no direct ties to the government. Income tax refunds for people who file federal returns on paper, for instance, could be delayed. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees 30 percent of the home loans in the United States, would suspend operations. Sixteen national parks in the state, including Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore and the Assateague Island National Seashore on the Eastern Shore, would be closed.
Other services would continue. Social Security recipients would still get their checks, White House officials said Wednesday. The U.S. Postal Service would continue to deliver mail. Doctors would be able to see patients insured by Medicare. The Environmental Protection Agency would continue to watch for radiation from Japan's nuclear disaster.
And no matter what happens, federal income taxes will still be due April 18.
Members of Maryland's congressional delegation said their offices have been flooded in recent days with questions from residents about how a shutdown would work. In many cases, there are no clear answers.
"They're expressing anxiety," Rep. John Sarbanes said this week. People are asking whether "the things they rely on — many of which they rely on on a regular basis, whether those will be there for them if the government shuts down," the Baltimore County Democrat said.
Federal agencies have been operating for more than six months on a series of short-term spending measures, approved each time by Congress just before the government ran out of money. House Speaker John Boehner said he planned to hold a vote Thursday on a one-week extension.
President Barack Obama summoned congressional leaders to the White House Wednesday night for a second meeting in as many days.
Earlier Wednesday, federal agencies began publicizing shutdown plans.
In all, some 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed if the government closed, the Obama administration estimates. Employees needed to protect "life and property," including members of the military, would continue to work, but they would not be paid until after the shutdown ends, officials said. Congress would have to decide afterward whether to provide retroactive pay for employees, such as Mitchell, who work in other federal agencies.
Maryland officials say the state, which is home to about 130,000, federal employees, would be hit harder by a long-term shutdown than most other states. State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said Wednesday that the effect would be "really gruesome."
"When the government shuts down, it adversely affects Maryland constituents, in a much more detrimental fashion than any other state in the union," said Miller, a Democrat. "We just hope and pray they can resolve this matter as quickly as possible."
Employees at the Social Security Administration complex on Greene Street in West Baltimore held a rally Wednesday to oppose the possible shutdown. Saying they feel like pawns in a broader ideological debate taking place in Washington over the role of the federal government, the employees — including many who stopped working during the shutdown of 1995 and 1996 — chanted "Furlough Congress" and "Don't shut us down."
"I'm blaming Congress," said Darlene Monteagudo, a 51-year-old Baltimore woman who has worked for the agency for 23 years. "They're the ones not doing their job."
Monteagudo said she stashed away her federal income tax refund this year when she heard that a government shutdown was a possibility. By doing so, she said, she bought herself at least a couple of months of solvency if she is furloughed.
Many of her colleagues said they aren't so lucky.
"I would probably have to get a part-time job," said Pikesville resident Karen Matthews, who works in the same building.
The months-long impasse over federal funding has taken a toll on a wide range of industries and pursuits in the state, including scientific research.
David Valle, director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University, said researchers are keeping a wary eye on funding from the Bethesda-based National Institutes of Health. Some grants have already dried up, he said. In other cases, scientists are forced to spend significantly more time than in the past maintaining the funding they already have.
The institute receives about $40 million annually from the NIH, Valle said.
"I see the faculty preoccupied with trying to get some money," he said. "And if they don't get money, they will have to cut back or even close down their laboratories."
Several groups that represent federal contractors said the uncertainly over funding has worsened the impact of the already dismal economic climate. Firms are holding off making new hires and finishing long-range planning, they said. Maryland businesses secured more than $34 billion in federal contracts in 2009.
"There is tremendous anxiety that this is not going to get resolved," said M.H. Jim Estepp, president and CEO of the Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable. "And any anxiety in today's business climate is job-killing."
Despite the stakes for Maryland and the rest of the nation, the fight over current spending is only the beginning of the much larger budget battle to come this year. The Republican-led House of Representatives proposed a separate budget this week for the next fiscal year, which begins in October.
That plan, drafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, calls for deeper cuts and significant changes to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid in an effort to drive down spiraling budget deficits.
As early as this month, Congress must also confront whether to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion limit on government borrowing.
The renewed emphasis on cutting government spending follows last year's midterm elections, in which Republicans regained control of the House in part on a promise to reduce the role of the federal government. Rep. Andy Harris is one of the GOP freshmen leading that charge.
"The American people are realizing that you can't have a government borrow as much as this government does and not hamper the job creation process," the Baltimore County Republican said.
He said he was leaning toward supporting Boehner's one-week stopgap if lawmakers could not reach a deal by Friday.
"We have to change the culture around here to get away from this culture of debt and deficits."
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski told her colleagues that she's not opposed to trimming the budget, but she argued that to find cuts both parties must seek "an orderly, rational agreement that ... does not torpedo our economy."
"Democrats and Republicans should negotiate over spending cuts, but what's not open for negotiation is whether the federal government is worth keeping open or not," the Maryland Democrat said. "Parties must come together."
Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Linskey contributed to this article.
Who would be affected
The federal government will shut down if Congress and the White House fail to reach an agreement on a plan to fund the government by the end of the day Friday. Here's how a shutdown would affect Marylanders:
•Federal employees, except those necessary for the "safety of life and protection of property" would be furloughed. Service members would continue to work but would not be paid until after the shutdown ends.
•National Park Service sites, including Fort McHenry, would be closed. The National Zoo and the Smithsonian museums in Washington would also close.
•Taxpayers who file income tax returns using paper forms might have to wait longer for refunds. Electronic filers would continue to receive refunds at the regular pace.
•The Federal Housing Administration would stop backing new home mortgages.
Not all services would be affected, however:
•The U.S. Postal Service would continue to deliver mail.
•Social Security recipients would continue to receive checks and doctors would continue to see Medicare patients.
•Federal income taxes will still be due April 18.