Politics & Government

Speak Out: Did the Furloughs Fizzle?

Workers furloughed around the Washington metropolitan area thanks to sequestration express concern about their plight.

Written by Beth Lawton

Earlier this month, a Washington Post article said that while furloughs have hit federal government workers due to sequestration, it’s not the gloom and doom that the Obama administration was predicting.

“Sequestration did hit, on March 1. And since then, the $85 billion budget cut has caused real reductions in many federal programs that people depend on. But it has not produced what the Obama administration predicted: widespread breakdowns in crucial government services,” according to the Post.

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More furloughs kicked in July 1.

In a recent blog post on Old Town Alexandria Patch, a furloughed Environmental Protection Agency worker expressed frustration:

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“I am tired of reading in news outlets about ‘no impact’ from the furloughs,” wrote Martha Shimkin as she volunteered to repair an Old Town waterfront park for the second time with fellow furloughed workers. “Thousands of workers are out thousands of dollars.”

“You start to think no one cares until passersby offer their encouragement and thanks,” said Lou D’Amico, another furloughed federal employee.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., in a floor speech last week highlighted the plights of three federal furloughed workers, including a Fairfax County woman who said she had to decide between paying for groceries or paying for childcare.

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board for the first time had to dip into a contingency fund to offset sequestration cuts in order to keep a homelessness prevention program from suffering.

Have you been affected by sequestration? Is the furlough a fizzle if it didn’t happen to you? Tell us in the comments.


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