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Veterans Who Work For The Federal Government Are Among Those Hit Hard By Shutdown

Protesters gathered in front of the USDA Rural Development building on Goodfelow Boulevard on Jan. 9 to protest the government shutdown.
Chad Davis | St. Louis Public Radio
Protesters gathered in front of the USDA Rural Development building on Goodfelow Boulevard on Jan. 9 to protest the government shutdown.

Military veterans who work for the federal government are among the federal employees facing the loss of their first January paychecks due to the partial government shutdown which started Dec. 21.

A report from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management estimates that about one-third of federal employees are veterans. Although the exact number of local veterans who are government workers is unclear, a number of St. Louis-area veterans work for agencies like the National Park Service and the Transportation Security Administration.

“The number-one thing that (veterans) talk about is the heightened level of stress that the possibility of not getting paid is giving to them,” said William Attig, executive director of the Union Veterans Council of the AFL-CIO.“That is going to lead to long-term problems.”

Attig said those problems include financial instability — an issue that could have significant consequences for both long-time veterans as well as those just out of the military.

“As these veterans start going into their savings that make up their financial stability, they’re going to slowly become less and less stable when it comes to finances, which will lead to instability in other parts of their lives,” Attig said.

Stress over money matters is one of the leading causes of veteran suicide, Attig said. The 2018 VA National Suicide Data Report shows that between 2008 and 2016, more than 6,000 veterans died by suicide each year. The 2016 Missouri veteran suicide rate was higher than the national suicide rate and the national veteran suicide rate with 154 veteran suicides reported in the state.

Attig said that financial stress is worsened by debt, with unpaid veterans turning to credit and loans until the government shutdown ends. He said that debt can be especially detrimental if a federal employee has a job that requires high-level clearance.

“TSA, border patrol, prison guard: they require a high-level clearance,” Attig said. “One of the easiest ways to lose your clearance is by having any form of debt.”

VA Services

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie released a statement saying that services related to the VA will not be affected by the government shutdown due to the agency’s funding through fiscal year 2019, which ends in September. But some VA staff worry that if the shutdown continues past the fiscal year, those services won’t receive funding.

“We can’t pay their disability claims. We wouldn’t be able to pay education benefits, or housing benefits for our veterans. So, yes, we have some concern because it’s not over,” said Keena Smith. Smith is a veteran who works as a veterans claim representative at the Veterans Benefits Administration in St. Louis and a political coordinator for the American Federation of Government Employees.

Follow Chad on Twitter @iamcdavis

From NPR:  How Is The Shutdown Affecting America? Let Us Count The Ways

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Chad Davis is a 2016 graduate of Truman State University where he studied Public Communication and English. At Truman State, Chad served as the executive producer of the on-campus news station, TMN Television. In 2017, Chad joined the St. Louis Public Radio team as the fourth Race and Culture Diversity Fellow. Chad is a native of St. Louis and is a huge hip- hop, r&b, and pop music fan. He also enjoys graphic design, pop culture, film, and comedy.