People in Fairfield are bracing for the impact of the federal government shutdown on families and businesses connected to Travis Air Force Base.
The shutdown began at 12 a.m. on Wednesday after Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C., could not find common ground on how to fund the federal government.
Congressmember John Garamendi (D-Fairfield) represents Fairfield and said there are 10,000 active duty and reserve military members and 10,000 civilians and their dependents connected to the base who are no longer getting paid, during the shutdown.
“How long will this go? I don’t know,” Garamendi said. “People will begin worrying about their paycheck, ‘How am I going to pay the rent? Does the credit card have sufficient capacity?’ ”
A Travis AFB spokesperson released a statement reading, “Members who find themselves in financial difficulties should notify their supervisor, first sergeant and commander who can provide information on financial aid.”
During the shutdown, Travis Air Force base said operations are continuing as a main transportation hub for munitions going to Europe and eventually Ukraine.
Meanwhile, this government shutdown is also shifting concern to Fairfield families and businesses.
Kami Johnson owns Mahogany Soul Food in Fairfield. She says 90% of her customers work at Travis AFB.
“Well, I hope that we can continue to keep the doors open,” she said.
Johnson said she plans to incorporate some lessons learned during the COVID-19 shutdown.
“So, if I can make it through the pandemic, I can take all of those resources and all of those that I had during that time, and we got to go back to that and use that as our reference guide moving forward,” she said.
Johnson said she has already seen a slowdown in business.
“Only the tough survive, and that’s what I plan on doing,” she said.
The longest government shutdown was 35 days in 2018.