What to expect if RI gov't shuts down

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island residents looking to renew their drivers licenses, get help claiming unemployment benefits or even go golfing could face closed doors Friday after a judge cleared the way for Gov. Don Carcieri to shut down most of the state government.

Carcieri, who did not immediately comment on Thursday's ruling, ordered the 12 shutdown days to help close a $68 million shortfall in a state budget hammered by surging unemployment and dwindling state tax revenue. The shutdowns will require all but essential workers to stay home without pay, or about 80 percent of the state's work force.

Carcieri has scheduled one or two shutdown days every month until the start of the state's next fiscal year in July. The decision puts Rhode Island among at least 20 states considering furloughs or shut downs to save money, according to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Among those likely to be inconvenienced are people already pinched by one of the worst recessions in Rhode Island since the Great Depression. The call center at the state Department of Labor and Training will not take calls from newly unemployed people in a state with a 12.7 percent unemployment.

Workers at the department have struggled to quickly process unemployment claims from jobless people seeking cash help. The state has been paying workers overtime to process a backlog of unemployment claims filed online, department spokesman Laura Hart said.

Hart said the backlog could rise in the short term because of the shutdown days.

"We really are going to have to see the long-term impact, we don't know yet," Hart said.

In a memo to Carcieri, the Department of Human Services warned computers systems used to manage welfare and health care benefits cannot automatically account for the shutdown days, meaning those services could be improperly continued or prematurely cut off. In addition, Child support payments will be delayed by a day.

The shutdown means roughly 450 to 500 people will not be served by the food stamp program, according to the memo. Rehabilitation workers said the state could lose federal stimulus funding if their backlog grows too great.

Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said all state departments have worked for weeks to prepare for the upcoming shutdown. She said state workers will fix computer programs, correct mistakes and reschedule appointments to make sure people are not penalized because of bureaucratic mistakes resulting from the shutdown.

It's not as if we're going to shut the doors, walk away and say, 'Sorry, we can't help you,"' Kempe said.

Beaches across the Ocean State will remain open and staffed by lifeguards, although the golf course at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick will be closed. Division of Motor Vehicles offices will be closed.

Child abuse investigators, medical examiners and state police will still report to work or be on-call, although their civilian support staff will stay home. Family and friends cannot visit inmates at the state prison in Cranston during the shutdown days.

The statewide shutdown would be the first in Rhode Island since 1991. Then-Gov. Bruce Sundlun ordered state government to close for 10 days during a financial crisis brought on by the collapse of local credit unions. State workers took two days without pay before Sundlun struck a deal with state employee labor unions.