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A full federal government shutdown, our first since 2018, is now a reality. Legislators have yet to agree to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills that make up the federal discretionary spending budget. But let’s get things straight: The federal government started a gradual shutdown a long time ago.

Republican lawmakers’ inability to address the basic needs of children and families, including their decision to defund dozens of critical social service programs this summer during federal budget negotiations, has effectively already amounted to a shutdown of certain segments of the government sector that serve youth. The current stalemate on Capitol Hill only serves to make things worse for our state’s children.

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In New York, a prolonged government shutdown will be devastating. A history of disinvestments at the federal and state levels has left far too many of our children at a socio-economic disadvantage. It........

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