OLYMPIA, WA – More than 1,600 federal workers in Washington state have filed for unemployment benefits since the government shutdown began at the start of October.
Of the 1,625 claims the state Employment Security Department had received by Tuesday, 411 had been paid. The rest were pending.
The state’s goal is no more than 21 days from getting an unemployment insurance application to the applicant receiving benefits.
“Our No. 1 goal is to get people paid as quickly as possible,” Employment Security Commissioner Cami Feek said. “We understand the stress involved in being furloughed or laid off.”
The agency is receiving dozens more claims each day. This tracks with what the state saw during the last shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019. The current shutdown was in its 23rd day on Thursday and is now the second-longest in U.S. history.
King, Pierce, Kitsap and Thurston counties are home to the most federal employees filing claims. An Employment Security Department spokesperson said information about which federal agencies employed the laid-off workers is confidential. But the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and Transportation, along with the Postal Service, are among the agencies with the most workers in Washington.
As of the first quarter of this year, Washington had nearly 80,000 federal workers in total.
Nearly 500 people attended an Employment Security Department webinar Thursday focused on helping federal workers and others affected by the government shutdown.
Congress has shown no signs of coming close to a compromise to reopen the government as they disagree on the future of health care subsidies.
Once the shutdown ends, federal workers are meant to receive back pay under a 2019 law, but the Trump administration has signaled it wouldn’t compensate employees for their forced time off. If they do receive that back pay, they’d have to repay unemployment benefits to the state.
President Donald Trump has also tried to fire thousands of federal workers during the shutdown, but a judge has halted that move.
Federal workers who are continuing to work without compensation aren’t eligible for unemployment, a change from the previous prolonged shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019.
Senators on Thursday failed to pass either Republican- or Democratic-backed proposals to pay federal employees and contractors who continue to work despite the shutdown, meaning they won’t be paid until the government is reopened.
Most federal employees will miss their first full paycheck either Friday or early next week.
The state Department of Financial Institutions has compiled a list of resources for federal workers during the shutdown. And there will be another webinar to answer questions Oct. 30.
Meanwhile, Washington state employees who work on the food stamp program could see layoffs if the shutdown continues into November. Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are set to run out if the shutdown stretches into November.
The Department of Social and Health Services is “looking at ways to address” the funding issue to minimize the impact to state workers and food stamp enrollees, said spokesperson Norah West.
Total unemployment claims across all industries are on pace to surpass 2024’s total of nearly 3.3 million. The shutdown coincides with the busiest time of year for applications as seasonal workers in industries like agriculture and construction are temporarily laid off.
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