Things are getting real with the federal shutdown.

On Thursday, the state senate’s Select Committee on Federal Impacts held a meeting at a Mexican restaurant in a Richfield strip mall to outline the shutdown’s impending impact on Minnesotans.

One pressing area of concern is the 125,000 Minnesotans who were set to get help with their heating bill on Nov. 1 through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

In previous years, these residents would get about $550 spread out over the cool-to-freezing months to pay their utility bills. Now the state Commerce Department, which administers LIHEAP, is negotiating with utilities to cut these customers some slack with the federally funded program on ice.

Another looming issue is the 440,000 Minnesotans who will not see their Supplem

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