HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Federal government shutdown is stretching into another week, and the fallout is hitting military families especially hard.
KHON spoke with one local military family caught in the political crossfire.
Michelle Bowler and the youngest of her five children, who tells us she’s doing her best to stay positive, while the uncertainty hangs heavy.
“It’s stressful. I hate that my kids know what’s going on, because we’ve had to say ‘no’ to buying things or doing things. I don’t think that kids should have to worry about if their dad’s gonna get paid or not,” said Bowler.
Michelle’s husband is an army chaplain at Wheeler. And while this is not their first shutdown they’ve lived through, this time, it’s especially challenging.
“Just because the government shuts down doesn’t mean life doesn’t stop happening. So we were in a car accident. Our car was totaled, and that’s just a thing that happens, and we were prepared for it, but to have to buy a new car on Hawaii with limited options and more expensive options. With a government shutdown, it’s stressful waiting for the insurance payment to pay us back, not knowing if we were going to get paid or when we’re going to get paid,” said Bowler.
Congresswoman Jill Tokuda says she’s well aware there are thousands of families like the Bowlers who are feeling the strain as the shutdown hits the two-week mark.
“It’s unacceptable, and that’s why we need congressional Republicans, the House and the Senate, to get back to Washington, DC, do their job, sit down at the negotiating table with Democrats and talk about how we reopen government that is good for people, which means save life saving health care that people need,” said Tokuda.
Hawaii Representative Ed Case, in a post, said, “This shutdown was fully avoidable and is fully solvable. The Trump administration’s response is unnecessary, illegal and cruel to federal civilian workers and contractors and active duty military and their families everywhere, not to mention the millions of Americans who depend on the services they provide.”
Case said he’s been getting many calls in his office.
“The top overall issue is simply widespread uncertainty, especially as most federal workers are not getting paid and are concerned whether they will be furloughed or fired outright. They obviously want to know how long this will go on for their own family finances, and we try to provide the most accurate, up-to-date information we can for their own individual planning, as well as update them on the various legal challenges to the administration’s actions,” said Case.
“Another top area of uncertainty is whether and when furloughed federal workers can or should apply for unemployment benefits,” said Case. “This can be very confusing as it depends on whether a federal worker is still working without pay, furloughed without pay, or laid off. We have worked extensively with the Hawai’i unemployment office on these details and offer to help get the right answer.”
Rep. Tokuda says she’s also concerned about the Democratic-backed programs on President Trump’s list that he’s threatening to end permanently. The list is expected to be released on Friday. Tokuda says she’s not privy to what the programs may be.
“This is no way to have a functional democracy. This is no way to govern. I’m terrified about all the things that they’re looking at,” said Tokuda, who is in Washington D.C. “They are literally looking at numbers on a paper and seeing how many bodies, how many warm bodies can they get rid of from every single department, not even thinking about the important public service that they provide the people. So I’m terrified for every single job that we’ve we’ve got potentially on the line.”
In a statement, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono said, “As we enter the third week of Republicans’ shutdown, Democrats continue showing up ready to negotiate while Republicans refuse to come to the table. Instead of doing anything to lower costs for families, Republicans shut down the government because they refuse to address the health care crisis they created, which is making premiums skyrocket for millions of Americans.”
“By recklessly, lawlessly firing thousands of federal employees, Trump is only inflicting further chaos and pain on our dedicated federal workforce and our country. Republicans could end this shutdown today by restoring health care to the American people. Until then, my Democratic colleagues and I are going to keep fighting to protect people’s access to health care, reopen the government, and hold this regime accountable,” said Senator Hirono.
Meanwhile, Bowler says she’s trying to stay hopeful, but patience is wearing thin.
“I know a lot of families are hurting, and I know a lot of military spouses. Nonprofits are working really hard to make sure everybody’s taken care of, but also resources are running out really, really quickly, and that gets it gets scary, gets really scary for the people who are hurting,” said Bowler. “I just wish the people in charge would do their job and would pay everybody who’s working to help our communities and help our country, and they just deserve to get paid.”