Around New England

State Senator Wants To Pay Coast Guard Personnel With State Funds During Federal Shutdown

January 15, 2019

A Massachusetts state senator is calling on the state legislature to appropriate state funds to pay U.S. Coast Guard personnel stationed in Massachusetts during the partial federal government shutdown.

More than 2,000 active-duty and reserve personnel of the Coast Guard are being forced to work during the shutdown without getting paid for it, according to the Salem News.

State Senator Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) filed the bill, which calls for sending the federal government a bill after the shutdown for whatever amount the state pays out, according to the Salem News.

The four branches of the U.S. military that are under the federal Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) are continuing to be paid during the shutdown.

But the Coast Guard, which is under the federal Department of Homeland Security, isn’t getting paychecks.