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Will Federal Prisoners Get Paid?
April 8th, 2011
Today, I posed this question to my local NBC affiliate, WMC-TV Memphis, on their Facebook page; “Will federal prisoners continue to get paid during a government shut down?” They immediately responded and have assured me they contacted the prison system for an answer. We are standing by.
Patience is not one of my strongest virtues, so I decided to also make some calls to find out if those are incarcerated in our federal prisons will either stop all work, or be paid. Wow, I hope Action 5 News ultimately has better luck than I; I called the Bureau of Prison’s Public Information Office, the lady who answered the phone did think the question was interesting – she placed me on hold for about 30 seconds, and then transferred me to the Department of Justice who, without pausing, transferred me to the Office of something…couldn’t make it out before he transferred me – who then transferred me to the Office of Personnel Management and Budget where I encountered an endless loop of press X number…
Is the only way to get paid during a government shutdown to commit a federal crime, and stamp out license plates?
UPDATE: The only response so far with no direct answer to the original question, as reported by Action 5 News on their Facebook page: “In the event of a government shutdown, the Department of Justice’s critical national security, law enforcement, and prison operations will continue. All 116 federal prisons will remain open. Prison staff will continue to work, including Public Health Service Officers. Jessica Smith/U.S. Dept of Justice”
UPDATE: The federal government shutdown has been averted. The question still remains, would our military’s pay have been stopped, but the pay to our federal prisoners continued though a shutdown?
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