Should that h -pen, a government shutdown would not stop armed forces operations but destroy the local economies of military-dependent cities across the country – including the one called Military City USA.
Congress voted on Thursday to avoid this until December 3 and postpone a crisis over setting the country’s debt ceiling. Failure at this point or at a later date would mean that more than 75,800 military and civilian workers in San Antonio would miss their paychecks if a shutdown lasted more than two weeks.
That, in turn, would jeopardize payments for everything from rent and mortgages to cars and credit cards.
“It’s a real shame and every American taxpayer should be furious at the partisan deadlock that threatens the government’s shutdown as we work feverishly to maintain safety nets for a nation that has suffered the devastating effects of a global pandemic.” I mean, it’s inexcusable, ”Mayor Ron Nirenberg said hours before Congress acted.
“It’s political brinkness with the collateral damage to the American public,” he said.
1from3
Soldiers queued to buy lunch Thursday in a Korean Bull Gogi Boys food truck on Valley Hi Drive outside of the San Antonio-Lackland Joint Base. A government shutdown would mean no paychecks for more than 75,800 military and civilian workers here.
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express News
2from3
Soldiers queued to buy lunch Thursday in a Korean Bull Gogi Boys food truck on Valley Hi Drive outside of the San Antonio-Lackland Joint Base. A government shutdown would mean no paychecks for more than 75,800 military and civilian workers here.
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express News
3from3
Traffic reaches the San Antonio-Randolph Joint Base on Thursday. A government shutdown would mean no paychecks for more than 75,800 military and civilian workers here.
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express News
The military remains the Chamber of Commerce with an influence of 41 billion.
“Unfortunately we have already taken this route once. And, you know, we’re talking about people’s lives here, ”said Perez.
“And I think that while the military has contingency plans, I really think that civilians who work in military jobs will take the blow,” he added. “They’re not the highest paid people in the world, are they? And with the COVID, which we are dealing with, they are talking about the worst timing in the world. “
Joint Base San Antonio – with three major installations and the Camp Bullis Field Training Range – is the largest joint base of 21 across the country. San Antonio is also home to nearly 103,000 military retirees and 200,000 veterans.
All of the training of Combat Medics and Air Force recruits, flight instructors, and those who fly remote-controlled aircraft and the C-5M Super Galaxy takes place in San Antonio. This training would definitely continue.
A shutdown would stop not just paying the military, but “all of the economic activity generated by government, social services, construction and infrastructure,” said Steve Nivin, associate professor of economics at St. Mary’s University . “The economy is recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic, but there is still a good way to go.”
Some Texan cities would be affected even more. Fort Hood is home to 42,347 Soldiers, Airmen and civilians and the No. 1 employer in Killeen. Red River Army Depot is Texarkana’s largest employer, with 3,500 civilian workers repairing and overhauling vehicles.
The Lone Star State has a total of 15 major military facilities, including Fort Bliss in El Paso, Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, the Corpus Christi Army Depot, and naval air stations in Corpus Christi and Kingsville.
All of the bases play an important role in their local economy. Laughlin AFB and Naval Air Station Kingsville are the top employers in their counties.
The Air Force Thunderbirds fly over downtown San Antonio to honor frontline workers fighting to contain the coronavirus in May 2020. A government shutdown would mean that more than 75,800 military and civilian workers here would not receive paychecks.
Wilhelm Luther / staff
“It would be disastrous for the community if the pay slips didn’t come in,” said former Killeen Mayor Dan Corbin.
As the crisis loomed, the Pentagon warned of an impending pay cut in a letter from Assistant Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks to the military last week.
The letter did not state whether the basic housing allowance, with which the troops pay rents and mortgages, would be interrupted or whether the military pensions would be jeopardized. The Pentagon has not responded to questions about this this week.
Army and Air Force National Guard units would suspend exercise weekends and would not be paid until they could catch up later. The guard will continue critical missions that include COVID, home defense and operational readiness, a National Guard Bureau spokesman said.
Hick’s letter states that “a list of current military operations that are deemed necessary for national security will be provided by the Pentagon.”
“These activities are ‘exempted’ from the effects of a budget cut and will continue to be carried out: All other activities – with a few exceptions including temporary business trips – would have to be ordered and deliberately discontinued.”, “She wrote.
Civilian employees who are deemed necessary to stay in their jobs would continue to work even if they were not paid, but their numbers have been few in the past. Those who were paid with “forfeited funds” and were not needed to support the troops would be given leave of absence.
If that h -pens, a shutdown wouldn’t be the first for military personnel. In 2019, when 800,000 federal employees were idle, 42,000 active Coast Guard missed their paychecks.
The Coast Guard’s Marine Science Unit in Texas City ran a food bank, and the Chief Petty Officers Association’s Golden Triangle Ch -ter had a photo of bread, di -ers, and baby food on their Facebook page with a “Donate” button right underneath.
This year, Erin Picou and her husband, a Coast Guard chief petty officer, saved enough money to pay their mortgage on their Texas City home. Both are realtors with older children who can be left at home while at work, and they put money away because government closures have become a part of life.
The money is there for another hurricane too. But it will only go so far.
“We can’t do it forever,” said Picou, 39. “We don’t know how long it will take.”
Half of the Pentagon’s civilian workforce – more than 400,000 employees – were sent home in 2013. In San Antonio, about 23,000 civilians were given 16 days’ leave and later paid. That shutdown came after U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, persuaded GOP Congress leaders to make repeal of the Affordable Care Act a condition in order to keep the government going.
The Democrats voted with the GOP to help President Donald Trump add $ 7 billion to the national debt. Republicans now insist that the Democrats raise the debt ceiling without their help, while spending billions on a variety of programs that the GOP opposes.
When the drama played out in Washington DC, it fell flat elsewhere.
“Everyone traveling in Central America tries to be practical, and there are people in DC who have politics over pragmatism, and I find that really difficult,” said Jerry Sparks, a civic leader who heads the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce Headed closing committee. “It’s a tough pill for me to swallow.”
Comments are closed.