No matter what political party you identify with, the longest partial government shutdown in American history proved that government support is necessary for economies to progress.

Despite being reopened this past Friday, there could be another shutdown in three weeks if President Donald Trump and Congress do not compromise on funding for a border wall.

As news headlines in the past month continued to cover the lives of federal government employees, many did not realize the impact of the shutdown on small businesses and students — a significant portion of Syracuse’s economy.

Our leaders must avoid another shutdown in three weeks to ensure the stability of families and businesses.

With the Small Business Administration closed, small businesses did not have access to the lending and investment program that required government agency approval.

Joan Powers, director of the Small Business Development Center at Onondaga Community College, said existing businesses had to use personal funds or borrow from friends and family, while start-ups had to find funds to pay off initial payments like its lease.

In Syracuse, these issues of finding short term financing for small businesses could prove to become detrimental to the local economy if the shutdown continues in the future.

“Approximately 80 percent of the businesses in the Syracuse area are small businesses,” Powers said in an email.

Loans provide small businesses the financial flexibility to grow. Without the financial support of a loan, small businesses would not have the working capital to expand its operations and hire more employees.

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Unfortunately, small business is only one aspect of the Syracuse economy that was affected by the shutdown. At the heart of schools’ operations are students, who often faced intimidating tuitions and must rely on financial aid to attend a place of higher education.

An email sent Monday by Syracuse University officials recognized the shutdown may be affecting members of the campus community. The email extended support and resources to students who were affected.

Students should be reassured that their schools’ financial aid offices are willing to assist students during a shutdown. But politicians should take these trickling-down-effects of a shutdown into consideration. Students and small businesses can hurt.

Jenniviv Bansah, a freshman at SU, and a Ghanaian citizen, described her current difficulties with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and how she currently cannot get her green card verified by the Department of Homeland Security, she said.

Bansah added that her mother is having trouble obtaining an official transcript from the Internal Revenue Service to prove that she can receive money based on her family’s income.

While it is unclear if this is a direct result of the shutdown, it’s certainly something to think about.

FAFSA is only one side of the issue for Bansah, as other financial programs such as the HEOP Program, which provides opportunities related to higher education for low income families residing in New York state, also require federal government documents.

“For even that, the program still needs verification that they can keep on funding you,” Bansah said.

While one student is not enough to show the scope of how the shutdown affected SU students, one student affected is evidence enough that we must prevent another shutdown at all costs.

For a city that is being revitalized through small businesses and universities, Syracuse has a need for the federal government. Another government shutdown must be avoided.

Jack Ramza is a freshman Whitman-Newhouse student. His column runs biweekly. He can be reached at jjramza@syr.edu.

Published on January 28, 2019 at 8:29 pm