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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2019)
January 23, 2019 Page 5 Shutdown Impacts Grow C ontinueD from f ront Majority Leader Mitch McCon- nell, R-Kentucky, who refused to put them up for a vote because they didn’t include Trump’s wall funding in full. “Stop holding federal workers hostage because Congress won’t get him funding for an ineffective and expensive border wall that he promised that Mexico was sup- posed to pay for,” Bomanici said. Wyden said the shutdown “isn’t making American great,” but rath- er is “making American wait for Donald Trump to come to his sens- es and finally re-open the govern- ment.” Blumenauer urged Trump to “stop this charade” and called the government work stoppage “mind-boggling.” Bonamici said she’s heard sto- ries from a Transportation Security Administration worker who had to sell his plasma just to pay his bills and a law enforcement officer who narrowly evaded eviction for lack of rent money. More than 500 U.S. Coast Guard members in Oregon are continuing their duties, even without receiv- ing pay, Bomanici said, which has been the case nationally, the first time members of the Armed Forces weren’t paid during a shutdown. These stories are examples of why the shutdown is “infuriating” and “must end,” she said. About 800,000 of the 2.1 million federal employees who have been impacted by the shutdown nation- ally, including 380,000 who were furloughed and are not working and the remainder of which who are considered essential employ- ees and must work without pay. In Oregon, that’s nearly 10,000 fed- eral employees who are either fur- loughed or working without pay, according to the Oregon Employ- ment Department. Brian Florence, who works at the federal prison in Sheridan, told the Portland Observer it’s been a struggle for him and other em- ployees at the prison to pay rent, provide food for their families and cover medical costs. Florence, 49, said that although his family has managed to stay afloat so far through limited sec- ondary income from his wife and receiving help from food pantries at Oregon Food Bank and Salva- tion Army, it’s been daunting not going without a paycheck. “I have two beautiful kids and they need special attention medi- cally. So we have additional costs that are coming in right now and we’re having trouble to figure it out. Like, do we pay our medical bills or do we hold back for gas? Or do we pay our rent? What are we going to do? We have to figure it out,” he said. If the shutdown continues, Flor- ence, who lives in Salem, will again not see a check for the second pay- day in a row this week. He’s try- ing to organize for food pantries to come to the prison to drop off food for him and his co-workers. Sen. Wyden personally thanked Flor- ence for his service. Kirsten Wageman, executive director of Snowcap, the largest which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith ef- fort to restore certainty to people’s lives.” Trump proposed to restore deportation protection for some Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and Tempo- rary Protected Status recipients for three years--two programs for tions,” like increased infrastruc- ture investments at ports of entry, advanced technology to scan for drugs, weapons, and contraband, 3,000 more border patrol agents, and more immigrant judges. Democrats plan to pass its own package of six bills agreed to by House and Senate negotiators to re-open the government this week, according to the website of Pelosi’s office. On Friday, some of the 615,000 photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver State Rep. Tawna Sanchez, director of family services at the Native American Youth and Family Center in northeast Portland highlights some of the impacts of the government shutdown on people of color, including Native American tribes who depend on federal funds for health, food and social services. She was joined at the press conference on Friday at the Oregon Food Bank with furloughed and unpaid federal workers and other Democratic members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation. food pantry in the state and locat- ed in east Portland near Gresham, said their organization is seeing an increase in either furloughed or working-without-pay federal em- ployees who are using safety net services for the first time. Democratic State Rep. Tawna Sanchez, who represents parts of inner northeast and north Portland and is the director of family ser- vices at the Native American Youth and Family Center, highlighted the communities of color that are deep- ly impacted by the government shutdown, including Native Amer- ican tribes who depend on federal funds for health, food, and social services. “United States Government has a trust responsibility to the tribes. This is written in treaty,” Sanchez said. “This is a responsibility, it’s not a gift, it’s not a given.” San- chez, who is a social worker and has worked in the domestic vio- lence filed, later compared Trump to an abuser. “Abusers only think about themselves, they don’t think about everybody else,” she said. On Saturday, Trump made an offer to temporarily restore pro- tections he took away from some undocumented immigrants in ex- change for the $5.7 billion border wall funding. That was an offer Speaker of the House Nancy Pelo- si, speaking for Democrats, called “a compilation of several previ- ously rejected initiatives, each of immigrants that he rescinded last year. Pelosi’s statement criticized the fact that the deal did not include permanent solutions for those re- cipients, and its lack of “smart, effective border security solu- Oregonians participating in Sup- plemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), AKA food stamps, were issued February ben- efits early to last through the end of next month. The supplemental nutrition program for Women, In- fant and Children (WIC) will also be funded through February, and school meal funding is secured through March, according to Ore- gon Food Bank. At airports, longer wait times at security checkpoints may occur, but TSA officials said most opera- tions are running normally. Though the US Coast Guard have been working without pay during the shutdown, most other military isn’t affected, and the De- partment of Veterans Affairs is ful- ly funded for the 2019 fiscal year and will continue normal operation during the shutdown. Mail, tax refunds, and social security should remain unaffect- ed. National parks may be closed, or be only partially staffed, and Smithsonian museums and the Na- tional Zoo are now closed. Oregon Food Bank distributes food through a statewide network of 21 regional food banks and approximately 1,200 food assis- tance sites serving all of Oregon and Clark County, Washington. People seeking food assistance should visit oregonfoodbank.com/ findfood. Portland Police Bureau’s charity organization, Sunshine Division, will extend service qualifiers to include federal employees not re- ceiving pay by providing food box services in partnership with labor organizations. More information can be found at sunshinedivision. org. Oregon Humane Society has also scheduled free pet food banks to furloughed or work-without-pay federal employees. More infor- mation can be found at oregonhu- mane.org.
