Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro said Monday she wasn’t sure how deeply the 35-day partial federal government shutdown affected Montgomery County’s 80,000-plus federal workers and contractors. But the emotional toll, she said, was clear.
“There is no doubt that it’s a huge impact, because No. 1, if you don’t know when your next paycheck is gonna come in and might not want to go out to eat as a family on the weekend,” she said. “No. 2, on a daily basis, with this uncertainty, you don’t know what it’s gonna be like to meet your basic needs, like paying your mortgage.”
The shutdown ended Friday after Congress and President Trump agreed to a temporary spending bill that keeps the government open through Feb. 15. The agreement did not include funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, which Trump had originally demanded be part of a spending package.
Navarro, asked about the possibility of using county funds to help small businesses and contractors, said it would be difficult in the current climate due to the county’s need to hash out a $46 million mid-year savings plan sought by the county executive.
“It was very difficult for us, given our own restrictions, to turn around and say, ‘OK, here’s a special appropriation for this, that and the other,’” she said.
Navarro added that the Greater Washington Community Foundation has set aside a $50,000 “resiliency fund” for workers and contractors hurt by the impasse, and that other nonprofits have taken similar steps.
Marylanders have lost $778 million in wages according to an estimate from the state comptroller’s office.
One estimate from a regional economic researcher placed the impact on the Washington-area economy at $1.6 billion, including lost business and wages.
Navarro and her eight council colleagues last week weighed in on the matter in a letter to Congress and the president that called for an immediate end to the historic shutdown.
During a meeting with reporters Monday, she praised her fellow council members for their efforts to assist furloughed workers, including a free meal hosted by council member Tom Hucker on Jan. 11 at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring. More than 600 attended the dinner, which made national news.
“All of my colleagues made individual efforts to assist many of our workers,” she said, noting that the council is still worried about the possibility of a future federal work stoppage next month.
Furloughed federal workers are due to receive back pay by the end of the week, but that isn’t the case for federal contractors and small businesses who were also hurt by the shutdown.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has sponsored a legislation that would assist low-wage contractors who were furloughed during the shutdown. Navarro said she plans to meet with Van Hollen on Friday.
There were other calls for retroactive pay for contract workers.
“As the shutdown created more suffering for hardworking people by the day, we are relieved that the government is set to reopen but we will not give up the fight until our members get the back pay the president promised and they deserve,” Jaime Contreras, vice president of the regional service workers union that represents about 17,000 people in the Washington and Baltimore areas, said in a weekend statement.
About 18.2 percent of the 360,000 federal employees in the region are in Montgomery County, the second-highest concentration behind Fairfax County, Virginia, with 19.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There are an estimated 400,000 employees at private-sector companies doing work for the federal government.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
