Jenny Reese is a licensed practical nurse who works at the Springfield Hospital Center in Carroll County, Maryland. She says the government shutdown is going to push her co-workers and the people she serves to the brink.
Reese’s facility is a rural psychiatric hospital dedicated to treating people who are working through the judicial system.
“We’ve already seen our first layoffs from county cuts,” says Reese, president of Local 539 (AFSCME Maryland Council 3). “Looming federal cuts could be devasting. We’re going to be fighting to save people’s jobs but also to preserve the vital services that we provide to our communities.”
The shutdown is only the latest blow to public service workers like Reese. Yes-men and women in Congress delivered the so called “Big Beautiful Bill” this summer, with trillions in tax giveaways to billionaires and wealthy corporations.
“Billionaires don’t need those cuts,” says Reese. “The hardworking people whose blood sweat and tears go toward their job, who provide for their families, living paycheck to paycheck — they weren’t granted any of those cuts.”
Even before the shutdown, Reese says, “We were already stretched too thin. We don’t meet minimum staffing ratios. Every day we face potential job hazards, but we still go to work. Someone has to do it, and we’re passionate about what we do.”
Reese works at a direct share hospital, which is funded through Medicaid. But that funding dries up in a government shutdown. And Medicaid cuts made through the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” also mean that her patients won’t be able to afford medication that is essential to their treatment.
At the same time, Congress’ failure to extend premium tax credits through the Affordable Care Act means that many of Reese’s co-workers won’t be able to afford health care, with rates increasing as much as 114%. Meanwhile, Reese says, everyone else is going to see their health care costs skyrocket.
Reese thinks it’s past time for Congress to stop prioritizing billionaires and focus on funding public services and lowering health care costs.