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Maine legislator proposes bill to help furloughed federal employees

Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson presented a bill on Tuesday to provide interest free loans for government workers impacted by the government shutdown

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, introduced a bill that would provide interest free loans matching one months pay up to five-thousand dollars for workers affected by the shutdown. 

Loans would be issued by Maine banks and credit unions and backed by the state. Those guaranteed interest-free loans would be the amount of one month’s net pay, up to $5,000 per employee. This would only be available for federal employees that are currently furloughed or working without pay. 

Jackson says his goal is to keep families of furloughed workers afloat.

"This is just a program to make sure that people that have a job, are working for the United States, the state of Maine, don't get caught up in not being able to pay for their homes. Not being able to pay for their vehicles. Not being able to pay for the heating oil in their tanks. So that's what we're working on and we're going to get support for it," said Jackson.

The bill is similar to a piece of legislation passed in Connecticut earlier this week. 

Jackson will present the bill to the state legislative council on Thursday, January 24. 

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