When the federal government lays off large numbers of workers, it creates ripple effects that hit state and local governments hard—but nobody has really studied how bad those effects are. This bill asks the Government Accountability Office (the federal government's main watchdog agency) to do a comprehensive study on exactly what happens to states and cities when federal employees lose their jobs.

The study will look at several key impacts: how many more people apply for unemployment benefits, Medicaid, job retraining programs, and housing assistance; how state and local tax revenues drop when federal workers leave and stop spending money in their communities; and how regional economies shift when federal employment disappears. It will also examine whether some states and cities are better equipped to handle these shocks than others, and look back at historical examples of major federal layoffs to see what actually happened.

The Government Accountability Office will talk to state budget officials, labor agencies, governors' offices, and economic experts to gather data and understand the full picture. Within 18 months, they'll report back to Congress with their findings, identify which states and cities got hit hardest, project future impacts, and suggest policy options—like whether the federal government should provide financial help to affected communities or create better planning tools to warn states in advance.