Military families brace for impact as government shutdown looms

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The government shutdown is impacting people here in southeast Georgia who are bracing to miss their first paychecks next week.

Valerie Woods – the spouse of a military member – says families at Fort Stewart are trying to help each other get basic needs met like food for their kids.

Woods told WTOC that families at Fort Stewart fear what could happen if they miss their scheduled paycheck on October 15.

The last government shutdown lasted 35 days, but this time around, military families have more to worry about when it comes to paychecks they’d normally still receive.

“While traditionally that’s been true, for this one they haven’t done what they need to to make sure that we get paid,” Woods said. “There has been no continuing resolution or anything to address funding active duty pay.”

Legislation must be passed by Monday, October 13th in order to get paychecks out on time, but the Senate’s not expected to be back in session until Tuesday.

“The only way that service members are gonna be able to try to get paid on the 15th is by applying to loans or financial aid,” said Woods.

While credit unions like Navy Federal are offering 0% loans, these aren’t available to everyone, with members who don’t have higher credit scores especially at risk.

“There’s also a lot of young couples in the military, you talk about 18, 19, 20-year-olds, they have no idea what to do,” said Woods. “They don’t have savings, they don’t have credit and they have no backup plan for that.”

This puts them in a dangerous situation with payday looming and no end in sight to the shutdown.

“Even missing a single paycheck is going to be devastating for the majority of military families, especially single income households,” said Woods.

She says some people at Fort Stewart are scared.

“I’m already seeing that happen in spouse groups, people saying ‘what are we supposed to do’”, said Woods. “The answer is we don’t know, we don’t know…we don’t know.”

Woods says people are trying to help each other as much as they can.

“People are asking essentially their neighbors, other military families ‘do you have a gallon of milk to spare, does anyone have a loaf of bread to spare, does anyone have this baby formula to spare,’” said Woods. “I’m getting a little bit emotional because I’m blessed and am fortunate to have a job that enables me to participate and help other families more often but I can’t help everyone.”

With the 15th soon approaching, members are hoping lawmakers pass the Pay Our Troops Act early next week.

This is similar to the Pay Our Military Act in 2013, which was signed into law days before government funding hit a standstill, making sure military members were paid in the event of an extensive shutdown.