State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

The Shutdown Ended. Utah Wants Its Money Back.

Stateline: When Utah shelled out nearly $2 million to keep its national parks open during the federal government’s two-week shutdown in 2013, state leaders thought the federal government would pay them back all the money once it reopened. It didn’t.

The states of Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota and Tennessee also got stiffed — despite efforts by their congressional delegations to get all the money returned.

“We still haven’t been paid back,” said Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory, a Republican who years later sponsored a measure to encourage the federal government to pay back the state after the 2013 shutdown. “It was about $2 million, and they paid us about $1 million and then forgot about us.”

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