Committee Advances Bill to Assist Federal & State Workers During Government Shutdowns

PHOTO: Workers from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard meet with Sen. Mark Lawrence (D-York) on LD 2113.

The Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance & Financial Services Committee voted on party lines Wednesday evening to pass a bill that would support state and federal employees during government shutdowns. LD 2113, An Act to Provide Relief to Federal Employees Affected by a Federal Shutdown, sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), would allow workers who are furloughed or required to work without pay during a federal or state shutdown to qualify for state-backed, no-interest loans.

The bill establishes the Maine Shutdown Loan Guarantee Program. The program, administered by the Finance Authority of Maine, provides access to no-interest loans for federal and state employees affected by a federal or state government shutdown.

“LD 2113 would provide federal workers in the state of Maine state-backed, interest-free loans to cover federal worker's paychecks in the event of a government shutdown, paid back when the government reopens, so that they can focus on the important mission at hand instead of worrying about if they will be able to pay their bills, put gas in their car to get to and from work, and put food on the table," said Alana Schaeffer, President of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 788 and President of the Metal Trades Council, an association of a dozen unions representing 3,000 employees across ten trades at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. "While legislators in Maine cannot control the political environment in Washington, DC, they do have the ability to ease this financial insecurity for the Mainers that they serve. We want to thank members of the Health Coverage, Insurance & Financial Services Committee for advancing this important bill and I urge lawmakers in Augusta to stand with federal workers in our state by voting YES on LD 2113."

At the work session late in the day on Wednesday March 13, the Committee voted along party lines to support the bill – initial vote was 7 - 4 – with Democrats supporting the bill and Republicans opposing. The majority report amended the bill in two ways:

• It provides access to no-interest loans during a federal or state shutdown to federal and state workers after seven days of a shutdown. It was previously 14 days.
• The majority report includes state employees who are forced to work without pay or furloughed during a state shutdown.  

The bill was supported by numerous federal workers as well as FAME, Maine Credit Unions and Maine banks. The bill will move forward for upcoming votes in the Maine Senate and House. Federal workers  — from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and other workplaces including members of IBEW 2071, IAM 836, AFGE 2617, Painters (IUPAT) 1915, IAM S6, AFGE and UAW 2320 — testified at the public hearing for LD 2113 on March 7 and shared very powerful stories about the stress and strain of the regular threat of shutdowns and the difficulty of working without pay during a shutdown. Proponents pointed out that state and federal workers receive their backpay when government shutdowns end, so there's very little risk to taxpayers, and that the money will go right back into the local economy.

During the work session on the bill, Republican lawmakers spoke out fervently in opposition to the measure. Rep. Gregg Swallow (R-Houlton) said he was voting 'no' because he didn't think it was fair that federal employees would be able to qualify for state-backed loans after seven days into a federal shutdown while loggers in his district have to wait a few weeks to receive their unemployment checks when they are laid off during mud season.

"The fact they’re going to get back pay is wonderful because my constituents aren’t going to get back pay when they get laid off," said Swallow. "They’re just going to get unemployment, which will be less"

The Maine AFL-CIO is actually backing a bill, LD 1464, which would eliminate the arbitrary waiting period requirement for workers, including loggers, to be eligible for unemployment. We hope Rep. Swallow will support this common sense legislation. Rep. Sally Cluchey (D-Bowdoinham) pointed out that there's a major difference between being seasonally laid off and being furloughed or forced to work without pay during a government shutdown.

"If you are laid off you can get another job, but if you’re a federal worker and there’s a government shutdown, you could be called the next day or forty days later so you don’t have the luxury to go look for a job and find that additional income to meet your needs," she said.

Rep. Scott Cyrway (R-Albion) made the ludicrous argument that the bill would be "an incentive to shut down the government" so federal workers could get paid for not working.

"I’m really concerned that when they see the advantage they have," said Cyrway. "They can earn money on the side, they can still shutdown,  they can get loans. To me it’s not the way to do things."

Supporters of the bill responded that workers don't have the ability to shut down the government. It's politicians who are using them as pawns in political games.

"I really don’t think that federal employees should be used as bargaining chips for politicians to be in stalemates and I think that to the extent that we can remove them from that position I think we can do that and I think we should," said Rep. Jane Pringle (D-Windham).