HONOLULU (KHON2) — Agencies in the islands are already feeling the impacts of the spending cuts at the federal level.
Some jobs have already been cut, more are on the line and local elected officials are concerned over what is next.
Cuts on federal spending have left some concerned for their job safety in Hawaii — Congresswoman Jill Tokuda said the concern is high at Honolulu’s airport.
“The FAA, right? Over 400 of their probationary employees that are part of air safety, let go,” she said. “And we are trying to get our hands on where those firings have taken place. But we already know we never can have enough.”
Local cuts are certain for Maui Humane Society.
Three full time employees from Lahaina in their Federal Displaced Workers Grant Program got a 24-hour notice on Feb. 22 that their jobs were being axed.
“It’s the first time that I’ve been impacted this way to have something just, honestly, it felt like it was just ripped away from us on Thursday. I was shocked, we were all shocked,” said MHS CEO Dr. Lisa Labreque. “We do have a state grant right now as well. But this particular program was funded by the federal government.”
Rep. Tokuda also raised concerns over funding cuts for the National Park Service since millions visit local parks every year.
“1.6 million heading over to the Volcano National Park. We’re talking about Arizona Memorial. We have well over one and a half million people show up every year. Haleakala, close to a million and over a million in peak years,” she said. “This is really going to impact our ability to keep the parks safe and clean.”
Previous administrations have launched initiatives to cut federal spending before. Jimmy Carter instituted three separate hiring freezes in the late 1970’s.
Bill Clinton mandated the reduction of hundreds of thousands of federal jobs in the 1990’s.
Even Barack Obama implemented a two-year federal civilian employee pay freeze in 2010.
KHON2 asked Tokuda how the current cuts are different from previous administrations.
“There is always that transition, right, that we see with any administration, whether the federal government or the state where people will leave certain positions and new ones will come in,” she said. “This is an indiscriminate culling.”
KHON2 is still waiting to hear back from various federal agencies with offices in the Islands on how their workforce has been affected by the recent federal cuts.