THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030635
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
For several thousand federal workers around Hampton Roads, the federal budget impasse became real Tuesday.
It was payday. But for many, the paycheck was only a shadow of its former self.
Eldridge Smith, who works in dietetic services at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hampton, normally takes home about $700 in a two-week pay period. Tuesday, he got $250.
Smith is among 1,100 workers at the Hampton center who have been kept on the job since the partial government shutdown began Dec. 15 because their mission - providing health care to veterans - was dubbed ``essential.''
But they have been paid only for the time they worked before the shutdown began. For most, that meant this week's check was for only one week, not two - minus the usual deductions.
``I'm hoping some of my creditors will have some kind of understanding, because I definitely can't pay my bills,'' Smith said.
``It's a very, very uneasy feeling.''
Debra Corbin, a registered nurse at the center, said that even though workers knew this day might come, it was still a shock.
``People can't believe that it's really happening,'' she said.
And it could get worse. If the impasse between President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders isn't resolved before the next payday - Jan. 12 - the VA workers will get no pay at all.
``Most of us are eight days from poverty,'' said Linda Ewing, a health technician.
Jenny Tankersley, public affairs officer at the Hampton center, said the shrunken paychecks were ``quite devastating'' for many workers.
To help them cope, the canteen at the center has been stocking up on groceries and allowing employees to buy them with post-dated checks.
The credit union is offering loans to help tide workers over until their pay is restored, and employees have been given a letter from center director William Wright that they can show their creditors, asking for patience.
But that is no guarantee they'll get it, said Ewing.
``I told my rent man that I'm a federal worker and I may not get a full check if I get any check, and my rent will probably be late,'' she said. ``And he says, `OK, but you know it's a $40 late fee.'
``This is your worst nightmare,'' Ewing said. ``You came into the federal government because it was a `secure job.' . . . And now they say `You're essential. You must come to work. Oops! We don't have any money. We'll pay you next month, maybe.'
``And you know, the ironic part about it is, most of us support Clinton in not signing something that's going to take away from our elderly and our children. . . . We have the empathy. But it won't go to the bank.''
Up the road at NASA Langley Research Center, the story was similar, but with a difference.
This week's paycheck was half its usual size, or less, for most of Langley's 4,500 workers. But almost all of the NASA workers are sitting the shutdown out at home because they have been dubbed ``non-essential.''
According to Langley spokesman Michael Finneran, only a skeleton staff of 10 full-time, 33 part-time and 15 on-call government workers is allowed on the Hampton facility's grounds.
Even those - who provide security, oversee the operation of heating and plumbing systems, and monitor key aerospace experiments - won't get get any more pay until Clinton and Congress can agree on budget terms.
``People are definitely cutting back on what they spend, making their money go farther,'' Finneran said.
He said NASA workers are frustrated by the forced idleness.
``This is not much of a vacation,'' he said. ``You're worrying about money. You don't know when you'll go back, so you don't go anywhere. You just sit tight and do stuff around the house.''
Hampton Roads' military population is largely unaffected by the shutdown. Even civilian workers at local bases who were furloughed in the first shutdown are on the job this time because the defense appropriations bill became law in the interim.
Clinton vetoed a separate defense authorization bill that sets policies for how the money is spent.
That action means that instead of getting a 2.4 percent pay raise and a 5.2 percent increase in the basic allowance for housing, military members will receive only a 2 percent increase in each category.
For most people in uniform, the smaller raise will amount to only a few dollars a month less in take-home pay. A Navy seaman or Army private 1st class with two years in the military, for example, would draw only about $4 less per month with a 2 percent pay hike than he would receive with a 2.4 percent increase. The smaller increase in the housing allowance would cost that seaman or private about $8 per month.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Mike Doubleday, said Tuesday the administration will seek approval of separate legislation to give military members the full increases contained in the vetoed authorization bill.
Clinton's veto stemmed from issues unrelated to military pay, chiefly the bill's provisions to increase funding for a possible national missile defense system. MEMO: Staff writers Dale Eisman and James Schultz contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Martin Smith-Rodden, The Virginian-Pilot
"Most of us are eight days from poverty." - Linda Ewing, VA employee
in Hampton
Color photo
Eldridge Smith...
KEYWORDS: BUDGET PAYCHECK LAYOFF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE by CNB