In late April, though, the 1,200 civilian employees of Defense Logistics Agency’s distribution facility would be required to begin taking 22 weekly furlough days without pay, said Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Robbins, a Pentagon spokeswoman, by telephone.
The spending cuts, known as a sequester, amount to $1.2 trillion in reductions to military and other federal spending.
The package was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by President Barack Obama in an effort to motivate Congress to compromise on the national debt.
Cuts were initially scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 but were pushed back to March 1 by the “fiscal-cliff” deal.
However, a new deal had not been reached as of press time Thursday, Feb. 28.
The furlough days would be mandated for all civilian employees of the Department of Defense, if the sequester deadlock is not resolved before Friday’s deadline, Robbins said.
She said Department of Defense civilian employees, including those at the local DLA installation, which has depots in Tracy on Chrisman Road and in Lathrop, would be notified of the furloughs in the third week in March, and the one-day-a-week unpaid furloughs would begin at the end of April.
“The furloughs would continue for 22 weeks through September, when the fiscal year ends,” Robbins explained.
Only employees with jobs viewed as critically essential to defense operations would be exempted from the furloughs, which would amount to a 20 percent pay cut during the 22 weeks, the Pentagon spokeswoman said.
“We hope that something can be worked out between the Administration and Congress to avoid the sequester,” Robbins said, “but right now that is looking less likely.”
She said that federal law required the Defense Department to notify Congress of the pending furloughs Feb. 20.
If the sequester deadlock is resolved after the Friday deadline and before the unpaid furloughs are scheduled to begin at the end of April, then the furloughs and other cuts could be rescinded.
• Contact Sam Matthews at 830-4234 or shm@tracypress.com.
In the email sent Monday by Charles Brown, an official with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service office in Raleigh, N.C., Mr. Brown asked “if there was any latitude” in how to spread the sequester cuts across the region to lessen the impacts on fish inspections.
He said he was discouraged by officials in Washington, who gave him this reply: “We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be.”
“This email confirms what many Americans have suspected: The Obama administration is doing everything they can to make sure their worst predictions come true and to maximize
If true, then any Obama supporter left out there really needs to question their continued belief in his administration.
(it cut off the last line of the article)
I think it is 1.2 Trillion over 10 years.
It's barely a dent in the National Debt/Budget Deficit, but I'm all for it. If Congress can't put their Pork projects aside for the good of the Country then let's just cut across the board like what just happened. Everyone feels a little pain that way.