THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150207
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 144 lines
Around noon, the two-lane backup on Langley Boulevard in Hampton stretched for maybe a quarter-mile as drivers inched their way through rain squalls and northeast winds.
The exodus Tuesday from NASA Langley Research Center was on. Like it or not, the Hampton center's 4,700 workers began an involuntary pre-Thanksgiving vacation that will end only when a feuding White House and Congress settle budget differences.
Across Hampton Roads, thousands of workers went through a similar routine.
By 1 p.m., many government workers unconnected to law enforcement at the Federal Building in downtown Norfolk had left for an indefinite length of time. Would-be visitors to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks were told by a sign at the gate that the popular attraction was closed. About 31 federal employees on the Eastern Shore were furloughed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Virginia, with about 275,000 federal workers, is among the states that will be hardest hit if the government stays closed for long. While the Clinton administration estimates that one-third of all federal civilian workers have been furloughed, there were no figures available Tuesday on the number furloughed in the state.
The shutdown at NASA's Langley Center was perhaps larger than at any other single facility in Hampton Roads.
``Quit paying them (Congress) until it's resolved,'' insisted Ed Townsley, a Langley engineering technician. ``That'll resolve it. Right now there's no carrot in front of their nose to get the job done.''
In the center's labs and 40 wind tunnels, researchers worked to close up shop and get ready for lowered thermostats. At one facility, where the effects of aircraft speeds in excess of 2,000 mph are studied, technicians were preparing to bring in electric heaters to protect specialized methane-producing equipment.
As word of the shutdown spread, telephone calls, faxes and computer messages flew between offices. A group of researchers huddled in a conference room were trying to decide how to greet visitors who had flown in from the West Coast for a series of Langley meetings.
One who wasn't bothered by the shutdown fuss was John Ogburn, a building inspector who works for Hampton company Sverdrup Corp. According to Ogburn, the firm is conducting Langley office renovations under a contract approved last fiscal year, which ended this past September. So he wasn't worried about missing a paycheck.
``I'm a Republican,'' Ogburn said. ``I think what they're trying to do is right. If this is what it takes, this is what it takes.''
Standing in a laboratory where researchers investigate the properties of advanced aerospace materials, engineering technician Pat Brown listened to his colleagues' worries about the money problems all would face if the furlough continues past Friday and they are not paid.
Brown sarcastically invited warring Washington politicians to ``come on down here and hang out with us. We won't be playing golf like they do. We'll be at home.''
Not all federal workers were affected.
At U.S. District Court in Norfolk, it was business as usual. The judges, including magistrate and bankruptcy judges, were exempt from the furlough, as were law clerks, secretaries, court reporters, bailiffs and other personnel considered essential for normal court operations.
Federal rules mandate that employees deemed exempt from the furlough are those needed to meet ``cases of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.''
In the Eastern District of Virginia, which includes South Hampton Roads, this included federal law enforcement agencies, like the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office.
But for federal workers unconnected to law enforcement operations, the immediate future was less secure. Employees with the Office of Personnel Management and the Internal Revenue Service said they didn't know when or how they would be called back. They also weren't sure whether they would be paid.
One woman, when asked whether she and a companion were federal employees, answered, ``We were.''
An IRS worker, who asked not to be identified, said ``I'm not sure how we'll be told when to come back. We'll either hear it on the radio or be called by our supervisors. We're also not sure if we'll be paid. . . . I just think it's all political - both sides are playing hardball, and we're caught in the middle.''
Hampton Roads' representatives in Washington heard similar comments.
Aides to Virginia's two U.S. senators and several congressmen who represent part of Hampton Roads reported that callers to their offices appeared as divided over the budget as are President Clinton and congressional Republicans.
And some callers, they said, had disdain for everyone concerned.
``If it were my children,'' said one caller to Rep. Owen B. Pickett of Virginia Beach, ``I would have sent them to the corner.'' Another proclaimed himself ``tired of the whole mess.''
Sen. Charles S. Robb's phone rang pretty much continually throughout Tuesday morning said Eric Hines, a Robb aide. Many of the callers were federal workers forced off the job by the shutdown. ``They're angry. They're yelling,'' Hines said.
It was unclear whether Congress will provide back pay to those employees put out of work.
The Virginia Employment Commission announced Tuesday that furloughed federal employees can pick up claim forms at their offices and file by mail for unemployment benefits after they return to work. MEMO: Staff writers Dale Eisman, Joe Jackson, Mylene Mangalindan and Karen
Jolly Davis contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Dave Boulliane, a NASA research technician, talks about the effects
of the budget stalemate.
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Cars carrying, for the most part, federal employees leave NASA
Langley in Hampton Tuesday morning following the announcement of the
base's shut-down, a result of the partisan stalemate on Capitol
Hill.
WHO'S AFFECTED?
Federal civilian workers deemed ``nonessential'' were furloughed
Tuesday because of the budget impasse in Washington.
The determination of who was ``nonessential'' was left up to each
agency, and in some cases varied from office to office within an
agency. There was no central clearinghouse to keep track of how many
workers were sent home altogether.
Based on 1993 estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,
an estimated 57,561 federal civilian employees in the Hampton Roads
statistical area, which includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach,
Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton,
Williamsburg, Poquoson, and Isle of Wight, York, James City,
Gloucester and Mathews counties.
Among those, several large groups of workers were furloughed:
About 70 percent of the 30,000 civilian employees employed by the
Navy, or about 21,000 people. The numbers depend on the mission: One
office could lose 20 percent of its staff while another might lose
90 percent.
Virtually all of the 4,700 government employees and private
contract workers at NASA-Langley Research Center in Hampton. At
another NASA unit, Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore,
officials said 800 employees were furloughed.
Active-duty military personnel are exempt from the shutdown.
KEYWORDS: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET SHUTDOWN by CNB