Dayton Business Journal...
Boehner: No federal government shutdown
by Kent Hoover, Washington Bureau Chief
Friday, September 23, 2011 

Despite Wednesday’s defeat of a temporary funding bill for the federal government, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday that “there’s no threat of a government shutdown.” 

That would be good news to many in the Dayton region, which could see a huge blow to the local economy if the federal government shut down. 

Boehner, the Republican from Butler County, was set to meet with Republican members to present some options for a new funding bill, and then decide what alternative to bring to the floor for another vote. 

What will that new bill look like? 

“You’ll have the answer when we get there,” Boehner said. 

He blamed Democrats for Wednesday’s defeat of the bill, which would have funded the government through Nov. 18. Current funding runs out Sept. 30. The House is scheduled to be on recess next week, so the clock is ticking for the funding bill. 

Most Democrats and 48 Republicans voted against the bill, which was defeated by a 230-195 margin. Democrats complained the bill didn’t provide enough funding for disaster relief and cut a government loan program for manufacturing fuel-efficient vehicles. The dissenting Republicans felt it didn’t cut spending enough.

Boehner now will have to decide whether to make additional cuts to win these Republicans over, or make the bill more palatable for Democrats. He said yesterday’s bill was designed to be bipartisan, but Democrats “decided to play politics” when they saw that many Republicans planned to vote against it. 

There are more than 800,000 federal employees who will be impacted by any government shutdown. Ohio ranks 11th among states for the most federal civilian employees with 49,000, tied with Illinois. 

The Dayton-area economy could take a big hit if the federal government shuts down, possibly as much as $100 million per week. 

With a few exceptions for essential personnel, much of the government workforce will be temporarily out of a job, and a paycheck, if government operations come to a halt. 

Much of the local economic impact for a shutdown would come from the loss of income for those at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base    , where roughly 27,000 are employed. 

Studies show Wright-Patt has a $5 billion annual impact, which translates into roughly $100 million per week, so even a brief shutdown could leave a large void in the local economy. 

Read it with links at the Dayton Business Journal