Threats of federal government shutdowns are especially challenging to Marylanders

Marylanders beware. When members of Congress returned to work earlier this month, they had the chance to avoid a partial government shutdown on Saturday. And instead of doing the hard work needed to pass a long-term bipartisan deal, Congress, once again, resorted to a temporary extension. Our state is home to roughly 140,000 federal workers. That number does not include federal contractor workers (there are no available estimates for how many of these workers live in Maryland).