The first government shutdown since 1990 resulted in about 40 percent of the federal workforce being sent home Tuesday but has not really affected Carbondale or local federal departments, officials say.

President Bill Clinton and Republican members of Congress could not come to an agreement on how and where to cut the federal budget late Monday night. Because of their indecision, 800,000 nonessential government workers have been placed on unpaid furloughs.

City Manager Jeff Doherty said Carbondale, so far, has not been affected by the government’s shutdown, and Tuesday was like any other day.

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There’s no direct impact on the city, Doherty said. It’s business as usual here.

However, since the number of federal government workers has been limited, federal checks may be sent later than expected.

George Maroney, administrator at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, said the shutdown has not affected the hospital, but it may affect how fast some of their patients get their money.

It may slow up cash flow as far as Medicaid patients are concerned, he said. But we’ll still get the money.

Also, national wildlife preserves have taken a hit in the number of workers they are allowed.

Leanne Moore, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative, said the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge is low on manpower right now, but it is not experiencing anything unusual for this time of year.

Moore said all the workers at the refuge are gone except law enforcement, the wastewater treatment operator and the Superfund workers.

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Moore said even though the refuge goes through a shutdown process every year when it goes up for budget review, the recent shutdown is not easy for them.

We have to do more with less resources, Moore said.

Doug Stokke, an SIU North Central Forest Experiment Station scientist, said his department is not affected by the shut-down.

He said his department is part of the Department of Agriculture, which has money left over from fiscal year 1995. He said they had sufficient money to continue to operate without additional money from the budget unless directed to shut down by the president.

Although Carbondale is not affected by the shutdown, parts of Southern Illinois are. And according to Congressman Glenn Poshard’s, D-Carterville, office, they would like to see things to back to normal.

Dave Stricklin, Poshard’s press secretary, said he cannot predict when or how a compromise between Clinton and the Republicans will be reached.

All we can do is keep working, Stricklin said. We want to find reasonable ground.