Committee approves bill to help Maine and federal employees during government shutdown

Lawmakers have introduced legislation to provide financial support to state and federal employees during the government shutdown.

Under LD 2113, state and federal employees can apply for interest-free loans of up to $6,000 during government shutdowns lasting more than a week.

Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) introduced a bill to help government workers after the federal government was nearly shut down in October. Jackson said the bill is an attempt to alleviate the economic pain of the federal government shutdown, which the state has no control over.

“While we may not be able to restart their paychecks, we can ensure they have access to funds to continue paying their bills until backpay begins and their paychecks resume,” Jackson said in a statement after the vote. You can do that,” he said.

At a March 7 hearing, federal employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery told the Health Care, Insurance and Financial Services Committee that past He said he has lost income due to the closure.

“Historically, we typically receive (arrears). But when you're talking about a week without a paycheck, that's the number that you have to adjust to what utilities you can pay each month. Weeks. Do you choose rent or food?'' said Joshua Johnson, an outdoor mechanic at a shipyard who worked 35 days without pay during the 2018-2019 government shutdown. .

The bill moves forward as the possibility of another partial federal government shutdown looms. Congress has until March 22 to pass spending measures to fund defense, labor, and health and human services. Approximately 4,000 Maine-based employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard will be without pay if elected officials fail to meet that deadline.

According to a September 2023 report from the Congressional Research Service, Maine is home to 11,855 federal civilian employees working in airports, the National Guard, national parks, Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense offices. Last October, about 40% of federal employees were furloughed, and the remaining 7,113 would have had to work without pay.

Mr. Jackson's original bill would have started the federal employee loan program after a 14-day government shutdown. But lawmakers shortened that deadline to seven days and expanded the bill to include state employees in case of a state government shutdown.

Because the loan is not based on the employee's credit score, the employee will not have to begin repaying the loan for at least 90 days, depending on the closure period. After 180 days, when the interest-free offer expires, the lender can request repayment of the defaulted loan from the Maine Department of Finance. The authority, called FAME, will repay lenders from a $250,000 pool of national funds and collect funds directly from borrowers.

The committee approved the bill on a 7-4 vote. Reps. Greg Swallow (R-Haulton), Robert Nutting (R-Oakland), Joshua Morris (R-Turner) and Scott Serway (R-Albion) voted against the bill. . Two members were absent.

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