Student veterans, park employees face freeze in pay

Southern Illinois residents as well as university students have already begun to see effects of the partial government shutdown.

The shutdown, effective Tuesday, came after congressional Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement concerning provisions in the fiscal year 2014 budget. Republicans insisted on an addition that could defund President Barack Obama’s health care law, and the impasse caused a furlough of nearly 800,000 federal workers.

While Obama signed a law that provides pay for active duty service men and women despite the shutdown, Veterans Affairs office workers may experience financial effects as early as Friday.

Paul Copeland, university Veterans Services coordinator, said student employees will continue to work through Thursday. Copeland will remain on the job because he is a state employee. However, he said student employees will be forced into unpaid leave if a congressional agreement is not reached by Friday because they are paid through the federal work-study program and are Veterans Affairs employees.

September G.I. bill payments were made Tuesday, he said, but October’s could be problematic if the delay lasts longer than a few days. October payments could be delayed if the VA processing center is closed, Copeland said.

“If it goes more than a week, then you may see some delayed payments … obviously we’re concerned because these students live off that budget,” he said.

St. Louis’ VA call center has also been tied to the Thursday deadline, Copeland said.

Jared Jones, a senior from Virden studying biomedical science, is a caseworker in Veteran Affairs who is among the five student employees who would have to take time off because of the partial shutdown. Jones answers fellow veterans’ questions, whose topics range from tutoring to financial need.

“Paul Copeland is just as capable as anybody of pointing people in the direction, as far as where to go,” he said. “The only difference is there could be a little bit of a wait, possibly, because it’s going to be a one-man show.”

However, an October partial shutdown may not create as much of a backlog as one in earlier in the semester, he said.

“This time of the semester, we’re not as busy as we usually are,” he said. “It’s usually people that are just coming to campus that are receiving benefits. That’s usually right around the beginning of the semester that we’re real busy.”

Chief Communications Officer Rae Goldsmith said the university is going to do its best to accommodate the five students within VA services who may be out of work.

“We are watching closely, and are going to work to do whatever we can to find alternative options for the students to the extent that we can … We just haven’t identified them yet,” she said.

Goldsmith said off-campus military-base programs might be affected by the shutdown because all but three of the 21 bases where SIU offer programs will stay open.

“Two military base education service buildings are closed — Camp Lejeune and New River,” said Gayla Stoner, director for distance education and off-campus programs. “We made arrangements for staff to virtually serve students. Also, we have alternative classroom locations for these two locations.”

While VA student employees wait to hear if they will report to work Friday, national parks have already closed — including those in southern Illinois.  Shawnee National Forest and Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge are both closed indefinitely.

The National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds to suspend all activities except for those that are essential to respond to emergencies that involve human safety or property protection, according to the U.S Department of Interior’s website.

Phone calls to the Shawnee National Forest were answered with a recording that stated employees are on furlough because of a government-funding lapse, and a message would be returned once the shutdown has ended and employees return to work.

The parks have also taken to their social media accounts to inform citizens of the closures.

“Due to a lapse of government funding, this account will not be active until further notice,” a Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge Facebook post stated.

While the Shawnee National Forest Twitter account will remain inactive until funding is restored, today’s tweet stated, “Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this channel will not be updated until the federal government reopens.”

Other programs threatened by the shutdown include Head Start programs nationwide, but Interim Vice Chancellor of Research James Garvey said he does not think Carbondale’s program would be affected.

Goldsmith also said while federal financial aid is liable to be affected, she believes there will be minimal if any disruption in student financial aid, but the university will continue to monitor potential changes.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children is also in the line of financial fire. No administrative costs will be available, as reported by USA Today, but state funds may be available. Jackson County

Health Dept. officials report the vouchers are state-funded, so their WIC program will be business as usual.

Kayli Plotner and Karsten Burgstahler can be reached by calling 536-3311 ext. 252