Call Congress about Govt Shutdown
Dec. 22nd, 2018 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tassosss posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
thisfinecrewSooo. The government is shut down. For those that want details here's the Vox article: https://www.vox.com/2018/12/22/18141081/government-partial-shutdown-trump-house-senate
ETA: It is a partial government shutdown in that many services and agencies including the Department of Defense are still open since they were forward funded. Additional information about what's open and what's closed is here:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/
Info on DOD: https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/36944 and the 2019 forward funding bill for DOD, HHS, DOEd https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-
The Senate is reconvening this weekend and negotiations are on-going. ETA: Now they have gone home till next Thursday, Dec 27.
This is the time to call/text/fax your Senators and Representatives to express your displeasure.
You can find scripts at 5calls.org.
On a personal note, my husband is a federal employee and I'm a federal contractor. His agency has a few days grace before he's furloughed, and I'm allowed to telework as long as nothing I do requires access to my worksite, my federal supervisor, or email (*looks at vanishingly small list of projects that applies to*). In addition to disrupting projects and wasting hours and hours untangling what to do, who's considered important enough to work, and all the thousands of details it takes to manage one of the largest workforces in the country, we also aren't getting paid for the duration. Even people who have permission to work are likely not getting paid till this is over. While federal employees will probably get backpay, it's a different story for contractors, which basically varies by contract, and is likely not going to happen immediately because bureaucracy. After the 2013 shutdown I had colleagues who waited 2 YEARS to get paid. And hourly workers like janitorial and cafeteria staff are likely screwed out payment altogether for those furloughed hours. As for services, while many of the most essential will continue to be run, for all the rest they will build up another nightmare backlog that will take months to catch up with. You the thought bureaucracy was bad before....
Happy holidays everyone.
ETA: It is a partial government shutdown in that many services and agencies including the Department of Defense are still open since they were forward funded. Additional information about what's open and what's closed is here:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/
Info on DOD: https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/36944 and the 2019 forward funding bill for DOD, HHS, DOEd https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-
The Senate is reconvening this weekend and negotiations are on-going. ETA: Now they have gone home till next Thursday, Dec 27.
This is the time to call/text/fax your Senators and Representatives to express your displeasure.
You can find scripts at 5calls.org.
On a personal note, my husband is a federal employee and I'm a federal contractor. His agency has a few days grace before he's furloughed, and I'm allowed to telework as long as nothing I do requires access to my worksite, my federal supervisor, or email (*looks at vanishingly small list of projects that applies to*). In addition to disrupting projects and wasting hours and hours untangling what to do, who's considered important enough to work, and all the thousands of details it takes to manage one of the largest workforces in the country, we also aren't getting paid for the duration. Even people who have permission to work are likely not getting paid till this is over. While federal employees will probably get backpay, it's a different story for contractors, which basically varies by contract, and is likely not going to happen immediately because bureaucracy. After the 2013 shutdown I had colleagues who waited 2 YEARS to get paid. And hourly workers like janitorial and cafeteria staff are likely screwed out payment altogether for those furloughed hours. As for services, while many of the most essential will continue to be run, for all the rest they will build up another nightmare backlog that will take months to catch up with. You the thought bureaucracy was bad before....
Happy holidays everyone.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-22 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-22 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 01:52 am (UTC)My senators are Harris and Feinstein; my rep is Barbara Lee; I don't think making noise about being unhappy is warranted - there's not much they can do other than "agree to fund the wall," and I don't want that. I want republicans to get off their asses and pass a bill, no matter what P45 says he won't sign.
Because so far, he's signed every single thing put in front of him; he doesn't want to veto anything because then he gets even more hate from the media. He'll sign, and then say it was a bad law, and he was cheated, and they should've given him more time, and they're doing it all wrong, etc. etc. -- but he'll sign.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 04:03 am (UTC)Sources:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6157/all-info
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s3159
https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/36944
I still think a shutdown is a bad thing, and people--both employees/contractors and those who rely on the government for services--will suffer. However, I've been shocked by how bad the reporting on this topic is. I can't believe how many major news outlets seem to have forgotten that significant parts of the government are funded and remaining operational.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 04:27 am (UTC)In Vox's defense, they do have a separate article about what is open and closed lower down on their page, (which I failed to check this morning).
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/20/18136667/partial-government-shutdown-post-office-military-passports