Federal Managers Association

Press Release

• FMA NATIONAL PRESIDENT URGES CONGRESS TO PREVENT A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN - September 30, 2013

• Every American will be negatively and needlessly affected

  Alexandria, VA – With a government shutdown looming merely hours away, the Federal Managers Association’s (FMA) National President, Patricia Niehaus, released the following statement imploring Congress to swiftly pass a balanced funding compromise to avert a government shutdown that would negatively impact all Americans. 

  “Unless Congress acts sometime today, funding for federal agencies and departments will lapse and the government will begin a devastating shutdown.

  “Under a shutdown, many of our members would be told to stay home starting tomorrow. Those who are “excepted” and are required to show up at work may or may not be paid retroactively. When government shut down in 1995, 300,000 federal employees were furloughed and 500,000 worked without pay. While this would obviously negatively impact federal employees and their families, all Americans will feel the pain. Not only will services be delayed or cancelled, but communities will suffer as furloughed employees go unpaid and are unable to spend money in their local economies. Economists have warned this will slow the growth of the national economy, affecting employment and income. Additionally, the gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to decline during the shutdown, creating dire economic consequences.

  “Federal managers want to be at their posts and compensated fairly for fulfilling their congressionally-mandated missions and providing important services to every citizen in the United States. Instead, they are wasting time and resources preparing for a shutdown that will compound the draconian policy of sequestration and dangerously set back the recovery of the nation’s struggling economy. Private sector business would never manage a budget this way, and neither should the federal government.

  “It is time for Congress to put aside partisan differences and stop playing political games when American citizens’ livelihoods are at stake. I urge every American to write his or her congressional representatives and demand that they put the welfare of the country above all else.”

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