Here's What A Government Shutdown Means For NoVA Workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The dreaded government shutdown is looming, and Congress is racing against the clock to get a spending deal approved before the Friday deadline hits. If you're a federal employee, a government shutdown would obviously have a very big effect on you -- but exactly what would happen?

Funding will expire on Saturday without a deal, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees that are non-essential will be told not to come in to work. The last government shutdown in 2013 resulted in 850,000 federal workers being furloughed per day, causing the shuttering of not just government offices, but also national parks and museums, according to an NBC News report.

The military, law enforcement, TSA screeners, border patrol agents, and other essential federal employees will continue to work despite the shutdown. However, they won't get paid unless more funding is authorized by Congress, which is what happened in 2013 with the Pay Our Military Act, NBC News notes.

There are a lot of federal employees in Virginia -- more than 130,000, in fact. Federal workers who are idled potentially will lose income altogether if they aren't retroactively paid. But there are a huge amount of other variables as well, as Patch reported in a past article on the 2013 shutdown government shutdown.

What worries you most about the potential deadlock and shutdown? Tell us in comments.

Those variables include:

• The length of the possible shutdown.
• Whether furloughed federal workers would be retroactively paid.
• Would there be a delay in processing federal grants?
• Would the loss of daily federal commuters impact Metro revenues?
• Would a shutdown and loss of income to federal workers who live here in NoVa lead to foreclosures?
• Would there be more need for local social services for federal workers on the margin?
• Would a federal government shutdown cause people to stop buying things and thus reduce our sales tax revenue?
• Would a federal government shutdown impact business and sales tax revenue related to those segments of our business community that receive federal contracts?
• How would a shutdown impact the bond market?

The affect will be felt by Americans who have applied for benefits and are waiting for action, as well as by anyone who has applied for a Social Security number or a passport.

Government contractors often can work because their funding isn't governed by the current appropriation that lapses, but by prior-year funding. But the government personnel they work for might be sidelined, said David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, which represents hundreds of federal contractors who work with several different agencies.

"Among the things you have to worry about are: Who is going to have access to what facility? Many contractors have workers who go to a government facility. Will that facility be open? Will you be on the roster of people who are allowed to come in?" he told WTOP.

Tom Temin, an anchor at Federal News Radio, told the station it is up to company holding the contract to decide if it will pay idled contractors. "High-level professional services people might continue to get paid, but if your contracting is for maintenance, or lawn service, or that sort of thing, you may not get paid," he said.

Basically, there is a lot we don't know yet on what this looming shutdown means for federal workers, if it happens at all. But if it does happen, it will certainly mean a big cut to paychecks in our area, and definitely a hit to the local economy as a result.

Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine on Thursday said they oppose a one-month continuing resolution scheduled for a vote in the House today, saying it would perpetuate "budgetary dysfunction and uncertainty for Virginia" and the country.

“Congress should remain in session with no recess until we work out a long-term bipartisan budget deal that addresses all issues," the senators said in a joint statement. "We will support a short-term CR for a few days to keep the government open while we stay in town and conclude our negotiations. ... The Republican leadership has to get serious about finding a budget deal and quit relying on short-term patches.

The uncertainty over the budget is particularly acute in Virginia, they said, which is home to government employees, kids who rely on CHIP, military families, and national security professionals. Recently, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis asked the Senate to pass a full budget package rather than another continuing resolution.

Issues including permanent protection for Dreamers, emergency relief for Florida, Texas, western states hit by wildfires, Puerto Rico, opioid treatment, and pension reform all need to be addressed now, the senators said.

What worries you most about a shutdown? Let us know in the comments below.

Image via National Parks Service