Why Arizona might be feeling impact of government shutdown more than most states

PHOENIX — Three weeks into the federal government shutdown, Arizona appears to be feeling the impact of the impasse more than most states.

The Grand Canyon State checked in at No. 10 on WalletHub’s recent list of states most affected by the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1.

“I think that seems about right,” Evan Taylor, associate professor of economics at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Monday. “It feels like based on Arizona’s economy that, yeah, Arizona’s been a little more hit than the average state.”

WalletHub’s rankings cover the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital came in at No. 1, which shouldn’t be a surprise for the home of the federal government.

The personal finance website used five key metrics to determine where the government shutdown was having the most impact.

How is Arizona being impacted most by government shutdown?

Arizona was in the top half for four of the metrics. The state’s biggest hit was in the category of real estate as a percentage of gross state product, where only Florida and Delaware were seeing a greater impact.

In addition, the Grand Canyon State ranked 11th for the biggest impact related to access to national parks, 14th for federal contract dollars per capita, 24th for share of federal jobs and 29th for percentage of families who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food stamps, aka SNAP.

Despite the rankings, Arizonans who don’t work for the federal government probably aren’t experiencing much disruption from the shutdown to this point, Taylor noted.

“For the average person, probably this has not impacted you so much in your day-to-day life, but it’s going to impact some people a lot,” he said. “The people that are on furlough, the people not getting paychecks, that’s going to impact them a lot. But that’s only something like 2% of Arizona’s workers.”

However, the problems could become more widespread if the D.C. logjam isn’t resolved soon.

“It will get worse as time goes on. It will especially get worse if programs like food stamps and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) run out of money,” Taylor said.

“That hasn’t happened yet. It could happen in November if this drags on longer, and that would be probably the worst thing to come from this.”

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