Sequester: Navy shipyard faces layoffs, furloughs
After serving seven weeks in Congress, an uncomfortable Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., stood at the gate of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton at 5:30 on Friday morning as the $85 billion federal budget sequester kicked in, and talked to employees likely to get kicked in the teeth.
The freshman congressman was uncomfortable because House Speaker John Boehner has sent the House home — yet again — with the sequester taking effect and the federal government due to run out of money on March 27.
“We should be in Washington and stay in Washington until we get this done: Sequestration was not the American people’s idea, it was Congress’ idea,” Kilmer said.
“The Department of Defense has said temporary employees will likely be let go,” said Kilmer. “I had one woman come up to me and say, ‘There are 14 people in my unit, including 12 temporaries. How do we get our workload done with just two people?”Kilmer represents the Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Peninsula in Congress. Kitsap County is home to the Trident base and the big naval shipyard. The big federal presence on the Olympic Peninsula is Olympic National Park, one of the most visited of America’s “crown jewels.”
The Pentagon has also said civilian workers face 22 unpaid furlough days between now and the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. “It works out to one day a week, which translates to a 20 percent pay cut,” Kilmer said. The Navy has already canceled a planned job fair.
Kilmer used to be a State Senator: He was elected in November to replace retiring Congressman Norm Dicks. The Washington State Legislature works through the three-day Presidents Day weekend. The House took a 12 day recess, and less than a week later is taking a four-day recess. It has worked in Washington, D.C., just 24 days of the past two months.
“We have gone seven weeks, and we have been offered no plan or opportunity to vote on any alternative to this (sequester),” Kilmer said. “My colleagues all say this makes no sense. Yet, we have been given no opportunity to do something about it. A lot of people I represent depend on Congress getting the job done.”
Under the sequester, Olympic National Park stands to lose $639,000 of its $12.777 million FY 2013 budget (under the continuing resolution set to expire March 27). The impact will come on seasonal hires and summer rangers who interact with visitors in the 900,000-acre national park.
“For now, you should continue your seasonal hiring plans, but delay making offers: Hopefully, the budget issue will be resolved in time to allow you to complete your seasonal hiring,” National Park Service director Jon Jarvis advised park superintendents in a recent memo.
It won’t be resolved with members of Congress sent home to this Washington rather than doing their jobs in the U.S. Capitol.
Kilmer was impressed at one aspect of his early morning listening at PSNS.
“The folks are obviously upset at the pay cut,” he said, “but what I heard was not just self-interest but community interest: What will be the ripple effect on restaurants, coffee shops and retailers? Again, with the national park, it’s not just the impact on their employees, but the impact on the whole peninsula.”
Kilmer is one of the House members willing to see his pay docked until “this is resolved.” He hasn’t been able to get a vote on that either.