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Sunday, January 20, 2019

Federal Government Shutdown Affecting 172,000 Marylanders Resulting in $778M in Lost Wages

Closure costing Maryland $60 Million in tax revenues every two weeks

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -
With its large number of federal employees and contractors, Maryland’s economy is being profoundly impacted by the ongoing government shutdown, according to a report released today by the state’s Bureau of Revenue Estimates (BRE).

Approximately 172,000 Marylanders are currently impacted by the government closure, which began on Dec. 22, 2018. Each bi-weekly payroll for which these residents are not paid results in $778 million of lost wages, which translates to roughly $57.5 million less in combined state and local income tax withholding, and $2.1 million less in sales tax collections.

“These estimates demonstrate what we already knew -- the unnecessary shutdown of our federal government is having a devastating effect on Maryland’s families and our state’s economic well-being,” said Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot. “Even if some employees do eventually get repaid, our economy will not be made whole and changes to long-term spending habits may cause further harm.”

The uncertainty surrounding the shutdown -- how long it will last and if it will happen again -- will also likely reduce business investment, according to the Bureau of Revenue Estimates report.

Between 230,000 and 245,000 Marylanders are federal employees; since some agencies are funded through other budget appropriations, about 90,000 Marylanders are either furloughed or working without pay, according to the BRE report. It is estimated that roughly half of the state’s 164,000 federal contractors are impacted by the shutdown. Many of these workers are unlikely to be repaid once the government reopens, so state and local tax collections would suffer from their lost wages.

The full BRE report can be viewed here.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stop your whining and build the wall.

Anonymous said...

Delayed wages, not lost wages.

Anonymous said...

Yea they still get their pay
Just another vaca
Stop crying

Anonymous said...

Read the article in the daily caller about these so called workers.

Anonymous said...

does that count the bonuses they get every year to?

Anonymous said...

Who cares. Build the wall

Anonymous said...

5:23 spot on but the liberal media fails to say that leaving low info voters to go off.

Anonymous said...


When they're finally paid the taxman will get their 'share'.

Anonymous said...

Keep it shut down. The democrats are feeling the pressure. Don't deal unless you get the full amount. Besides. We can pay some debt off.

Anonymous said...

Big Deal, it happened several times under Obama and the State, County and City also took the hits.

The only county entity that didn't take a hit was the Wicomico County Board of Education. Greedy Bastards!

Anonymous said...

They don't get payed if the don't work. If they are working without pay they will be given back pay.

This doesn't include private contractors that aren't working or getting pay either.

This doesn't include businesses that rely on the patronage of these government workers either.

This is Americans Families livelihoods being held hostage for a political goal. This is shameful. This is not noble, this is not sacrifice.

For those of you supporting this sham... I ask you put your money where YOUR mouth is. While this is going on, refuse YOUR families pay check. Better yet... still go to work and then REFUSE the money.

Once you do this.. then tell me how you feel.

I support border security, and building a wall... but not like this. Not by holding American Families hostage. This is shameful.

Anonymous said...

The mortgage company doesn't care or electric company or food on your table shopping nor prescriptions, that there is back pay. I am a government employee. There are not any bonuses for my agency. I make just enough to cover expenses living modestly. I and many many more like me would rather be working, earning our paycheck. Sitting at home worrying about finances is not a vacation.

Anonymous said...

They will get paid so the Feds and State get their taxes. Don't think Feds/State don't want theirs!

Anonymous said...


I’m A Senior Trump Official, And I Hope A Long Shutdown Smokes Out The Resistance

The Daily Caller is taking the rare step of publishing this anonymous op-ed at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose career would be jeopardized by its disclosure. We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers. We invite you to submit a question about the essay or our vetting process here.

As one of the senior officials working without a paycheck, a few words of advice for the president’s next move at shuttered government agencies: lock the doors, sell the furniture, and cut them down.

Federal employees are starting to feel the strain of the shutdown. I am one of them. But for the sake of our nation, I hope it lasts a very long time, till the government is changed, and can never return to its previous form.

The lapse in appropriations is more than a battle over a wall. It is an opportunity to strip wasteful government agencies for good.

On an average day roughly 15 percent of the employees around me are exceptional patriots serving their country. I wish I could give competitive salaries to them, and no one else. But 80 percent feel no pressure to produce results. If they don’t feel like doing what they are told, they don’t.

Why would they? We can’t fire them. They avoid attention, plan their weekend, schedule vacation, their second job, their next position, some do this in the same position for more than a decade. (RELATED: EPA Employees Who Watched Porn, Harassed Women And Got Promoted)

They do nothing that warrants punishment and nothing of external value. That is their workday: errands for the sake of errands; administering, refining, following and collaborating on process. “Process is your friend” is what delusional civil servants tell themselves. Even senior officials must gain approval from every rank across their department, other agencies and work units for basic administrative chores.

Process is what we serve, process keeps us safe, process is our core value. It takes a lot of people to maintain the process. Process provides jobs. In fact, there are process experts and certified process managers who protect the process. Then there are the 5 percent with moxy (career managers). At any given time they can change, clarify or add to the process — even to distort or block policy counsel for the president.

Saboteurs peddling opinion as research, tasking their staff on pet projects or pitching wasteful grants to their friends. Most of my career colleagues actively work against the president’s agenda. This means I typically spend about 15 percent of my time on the president’s agenda and 85 percent of my time trying to stop sabotage, and we have no power to get rid of them. Until the shutdown. (RELATED: New Facts Indicate Mueller Destroyed Evidence, Obstructed Justice)

Anonymous said...

Dems need to quit vacationing in PR, go sit around the table, and quit dragging their feet in the sand. No need for all of this except Chuck and Nancy want to make it political.

Anonymous said...

Who is the snowflake who imagined this report in his mommies basement????

Anonymous said...

Go suck on a reality popsicle for a while, Pete, instead of lying to your people.

Anonymous said...

They are "non-essential". Maybe they can find a job in the real world now that Trump has brought the economy back.

Anonymous said...

Join the real world.

Anonymous said...

Fund the damn wall Democrats!

MomQ said...

Delayed wages, maybe...but they're not lost wages. Besides, who hasn't felt the sting of being laid off? I try to feel sympathy for these workers, but they're just experiencing what normal working folk face time and time again - with NO guarantee of receiving "back pay"

Anonymous said...

Boo Hoo they will get paid and the taxman will get theirs. Just more "FAKE" news. Nobody complained when MD State workers had mandatory furlough days and pay reduction days for years. That was lost revenue to the tax man and the Family. Thanks to the MD Governor and Legislature. MD then started stealing from MD State Employee Retirement Fund every year and has paid back nothing including interest.

Anonymous said...

BFD

Anonymous said...

So their average check for this group is just over $4500 for 2 weeks...let's all throw a pity party for them.

Anonymous said...

What is this supposed to do? Illicit some kind of sympathy? Maryland always votes Democrat en masse. This is what you get from voting for Democrats. If anything this should be a staunch lesson to liberals that when push comes to shove, politics means more than people to all Democrat politicians. They couldn’t care less about your damn mortgages and car payments. What they care about is political capital which gives them more influence in the money world. Why do you think the illustrious Speaker has a net worth of $120M + while making $173,000 a year as a rep for California? Did you think she got that stash from the money fairy?

Federal workers should stop voting for Democrats especially after this whole extravaganza for pure fiscal reasons. Their own financial future. Democrats have proven they aren’t in their corner either.

Anonymous said...

How will this 800,000 reflect on the January jobs report I wonder?

Anonymous said...

Estimates are as high as a quarter TRILIION spent each year on illegals-I'll go with the more modest 86 BILLION estimate per year...a 5 year old could see the benefit of building the wall
(oops-maybe not, with the Common Core bull$hit they teach the kids now)...but it is more than obvious it will pay for itself...I bet these people would rather miss a few paychecks than have a family member killed by an illegal that snuck across the border. Montgomery County is packed full of them-not to mention here on the shore...half the people shopping in the Selbyville Food Lion don't speak English...BUILD THE WALL

Anonymous said...

The title should say "Government shutdown saves taxpayers $778M in undeserved wages."