Federal Airport Workers May Get No-interest Loans From San Jose

SAN JOSE, CA -- With the federal government partial shutdown at a complete impasse entering its fourth week, the San Jose City Council will consider a proposal from Mayor Sam Liccardo to explore creating a short-term, no-interest loan program for vital employees currently working without pay at Mineta San Jose International Airport.

The mayor has called a special meeting on Wednesday at 2 pm for the City Council to consider directing staff to begin work on such a program.

“We are going to do everything in our power to keep political dysfunction in Washington from creating service disruptions or safety issues here in San Jose,” Liccardo said. “Mineta San Jose International Airport is vital to our local economy, and we need our highly-skilled and trained federal workers there to keep it running smoothly. That’s why we are exploring tools, like these local bridge loans, to help keep these essential workers on the job.”

With U.S. Customs officers, air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration screeners facing the choice of working without pay or finding other ways to support their families during the shutdown, airports throughout the nation have been left to weigh their options for maintaining daily operations. Miami International was forced to close one of its terminals early each day during the furlough.

About 500 federal employees have been on the job at Mineta San Jose International Airport working without pay in the longest federal government shutdown in history. The impact has been particularly noticeable in the airport’s TSA operations, which employs 400 individuals. About half are San Jose residents. Since the shutdown, the daily absence rate has increased from 3- to 14 percent.

Airport authority spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes praised the maneuver deemed necessary to offset piling up everyday expenses federal workers are grappling with paying.

"Our mayor is pursuing financial assistance for essential federal employees currently working to keep (the airport) operational while receiving no pay due to the partial federal shutdown," Barnes said.

While some credit unions and banks are offering assistance for federal employees affected by the shutdown, many of these loan programs have low limits, varying interest rates and are only available to existing members. As a result, Liccardo has proposed exploring whether the city could implement a short-term loan program for essential federal workers along the following parameters:

1. The program would provide an amount equal to monthly take-home pay.
2. Loans would be repaid – without interest – upon the employees’ receipt of back pay.
3. All safety-related, mission-critical federal employees at the airport would be eligible to participate, including Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers, TSA passenger screeners and customs officers.
4. The city would explore funding the program through airport revenues and administering the program in partnership with one or more financial institutions.

Go here to read the mayor’s proposal.

--Image via Shutterstock