Federal shutdown sidelines 34,000 workers in Colorado

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

As the federal government enters its fourth week of a shutdown, an estimated 34,000 Coloradans are currently on furlough from their federal jobs.

That’s according to a new report from SmartAsset, which ranked Colorado 12th nationally for its percentage of the state’s total population currently furloughed.

With an estimated 33,707 employees furloughed, that makes up 0.57% of the Centennial State’s population.

In total, Colorado has over 50,000 federal employees. As previously reported by The Center Square, the state has taken steps to assist those employees.

While not all of those employees are impacted by the shutdown, many are furloughed. That means they are temporarily not working or getting paid.

In contrast to Colorado, Connecticut ranked 50th nationally in the report with just 0.07% of its population furloughed. Maryland saw the biggest impact of any state, with 1.65% of its population furloughed.

Washington, D.C., with a population of 700,000, blew out all the states with nearly 20% of its population currently estimated furloughed.

Throughout the nation, an estimated 700,000 federal employees are currently on furlough. Many of those have already missed their first paycheck since the shutdown began.

For Republicans and Democrats, both in Colorado and nationally, the shutdown is largely a battle of different narratives with both sides pointing blame.

“Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. This means we need at least seven Democrats to join with @SenateGOP to reopen the government — but they refuse. The takeaway? This is a Democrat Shutdown,” said U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colorado.

Evans is referring to the 60-vote requirement to pass a budget and end the government shutdown.

On the other side of the aisle, Colorado Democrats are standing united in voting against both the full budget and the Republican-proposed continuing resolution bill, which would temporarily fund the government. Yet Democrats maintain it is a Republican shutdown.

“Republicans control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Republicans control this shutdown,” said U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado.