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Michael Pasqua doesn’t know what amount will appear on his bi-weekly paycheck Friday.
A life scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pasqua is still working despite the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass a funding bill.
His department within the EPA Region 5, which covers Illinois and five other Midwest states, was fortunate to have carryover funds from the previous budget to continue operating. But Pasqua said he’s unsure if the carryover funding “means we’re going to get paid.”
“No one’s really kind of said that,” said Pasqua, 37, who resides in Edgewater and fills the roles of Region 5 data coordinator and Drinking Water Program manager for Wisconsin.
He also said it’s also unclear how long the extra funding will last.
One delayed paycheck may not break the bank, “but as each week goes on, we’re going to be, you know, each week is going to be harder and harder,” he said.
The biggest impact of the shutdown so far has been the constant rumors about potential furloughs and layoffs, uncertainty about who is still working, fragmented coordination between agencies and the inability to perform certain tasks with some workers gone, according to three workers from different agencies who spoke with the Sun-Times.
“It’s not really tangible effects, I would say. It’s more of, like, I’m just exhausted, personally, mentally, emotionally exhausted of this,” Pasqua said, adding that the EPA has been threatened severely since January, for example, with reductions in forest plans, and it has lost a few thousand workers across the country through buyouts and firings.
