The U.S. State of Washington will give unemployment insurance benefits to its federal employees to ease their hardship caused by the month-long partial federal shutdown, said state Governor Jay Inslee Thursday.
"There are nearly 16,000 Washingtonians who are about to lose a second paycheck because of this record-long federal shutdown," which enters its 34th day on Thursday, Inslee said.
Thousands of those Washington-based federal workers are being told to work without pay, and they have no option but to hope that this shutdown will end soon, he said.
The governor noted that those affected by the government closure included agents of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration who are responsible for security of traveling public at various airports, Coast Guard personnel, border patrol agents, food safety inspectors, and FBI agents.
"It is wholly unacceptable, and Washington state will not stand by while our public servants work day after day while struggling to make ends meet," Inslee said.
Since the partial shutdown began, only those federal workers who were furloughed and not working were eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits, Inslee further explained.
The Washington governor slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for taking federal employees as his "political pawns."
"It is unconscionable that the president is turning these public servants into his political pawns. We will take care of Washingtonians, even if the president won't," he said.
Inslee met several Washington business leaders during a roundtable meeting Thursday to seek their support for helping the struggling workers who have gone weeks without pay.
He said he was impressed to see many businesses and organizations stepping up to "help in so many ways, big and small."
"Companies are deferring payments or waiving fees, providing no-interest loans and finding other creative ways to help workers stay afloat during this difficult time," Inslee said.
Across the United States, a total of 25,419 federal employees have filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending Jan. 12, up from 10,454 in the previous week, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.
The shutdown has impacted a quarter of the federal government, forcing about 420,000 federal employees, who are deemed essential, to work without pay, and 380,000 others to take unpaid leave.
Federal workers are set to miss their second paycheck on Friday.
Economists expect the record-long shutdown to push the unemployment rate above 4 percent in January as the furloughed workers would be considered unemployed, according to a CNBC report.
