The sting of the federal government shutdown is being felt by
agencies close to home as some are forced to idle employees.
General James Hoyer says the shutdown
has "significant consequences" for the West Virginia National Guard.
"Right now, the men and women of
the National Guard who protect [us] are not being protected," he said.
Hoyer says a bill passed to protect
military employees doesn't apply to many Guard members.
He was forced to send 1,150 employees
home -- a situation he says left him at a loss for words.
Hoyer says the stop in federal cash
flow is also affecting training and emergency preparedness. He says the Guard
may be slower to respond if crisis hits close to home.
Hoyer says he's dipping into state
money to provide for other employees, but those funds
will only last so long.
will only last so long.
The U.S. Attorney's office has also
been hit by shutdown.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says more
than 20 employees have been idled.
Most of them are administrative workers
or employees in the Civil Division, which hears cases against the federal
government.
Goodwin says cases will still proceed,
but the process is significantly slowed. He says other employees now face the
difficulty of picking up the slack.
The Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) has escaped consequences from the shutdown -- at least for
now.
Spokesperson Kathy Cosco says no
workers have been furloughed yet.
She says the DEP receives earmarked
grants from the federal government at the beginning of the year, and still has
enough money to operate for the next few weeks.
