KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Retirees will be paid on the 31st.
There is good news and bad news when it comes to how the current government shutdown will affect Coast Guard paychecks.
KMXT reported Wednesday that the Dec. 31 paychecks would go out for Coast Guard personnel. That information has been updated by the Coast Guard, and that is bad news for local Coast Guard members.
“When it comes to active duty Coast Guard members, if legislation is not passed by tomorrow which is Friday December 28th 2018, our Coast Guard military folks will not receive their regular pay that’s scheduled to occur on Monday the 31st .”
That is Coast Guard spokesman Nate Littlejohn in Anchorage. Littlejohn says the pay situation and the government shut down is a fluid thing with decisions being made as time goes on that may change what was previously stated or believed to be the case.
So, this is the latest as of Thursday afternoon. Active duty Coast Guard members will continue to work their critical jobs but will not get paid unless some action is taken regarding the shutdown between now and Friday afternoon.
The good news is that retired Coast Guard will get paid.
“First and foremost, let me just reassure retirees that they will be paid. If you’re a coast guard retiree you will be receiving a retirement paycheck on December 31st 2018, as you normally would, beyond that I can’t speculate.
Littlejohn says that civilian employees of the Coast Guard are in a different situation than regular guard members or retirees.
“Now with our civilian workforce, it’s a little bit different a little bit difficult to explain but the long and short of it is that their last pay period for civilian employees ended on December 22nd . And so civilian employees who worked between December 9th and December 21st will be paid for that period. Civilian employees who have currently furloughed will not be paid for the current pay period ending January 5th or any subsequent pay period until an appropriation or a continuing resolution is passed.”
“And you said that furloughing means that they are not at work, so they are already not at work, and so they know, they’re like the regular federal employees that we hear about on the national news, they’ve been told to stay home until the money has been reapproved.”
“That is correct.”
