Hogan Asks For Shutdown To End, Thanks Federal Employees Working At Airports
LINTHICUM, Md. (WJZ) -- TSA agents are among federal workers feeling the sting of the government shutdown, and Thursday, Gov. Hogan took a tour of BWI Airport and spoke to those agents.
He thanked them for working through the shutdown, and acknowledged they deserved to be recognized and get paid.
"We appreciate your hard work, and we know you're not getting paychecks, we're here to back you up," Gov. Hogan said. "We're now talking about security of our nation. We have air traffic controllers, homeland security, TSA folks defending the security of our nation not getting paid,"
Over the weekend, TSA announced a record breaking number of agents calling out, forcing BWI to shut down Checkpoint "A" and consolidate its lines- causing major back ups and forcing air travelers to arrive hours ahead of schedule.
"We just left an hour early than we were supposed to, we were here three hours early," said passenger Dawn Borg.
As TSA agents prepare for their second paycheck missed, Gov. Hogan said utility companies are no longer charging late fees, food banks are offering up food and federal workers can get gas cards to fill up.
"Every single state transportation service is going to be free for state employees so they can get to work without it having to come out of their pocket," Gov. Hogan said.
Lawmakers passed a bill that would give back pay to federal workers once the government opens.
Gov. Hogan said the agreement needs to happen fast.
"Both parties need to sit down and set aside their differences and get this fixed," Gov. Hogan said.
Checkpoint "A" is back open, but it is only being used for TSA Pre-Check at this time.
Officials are still asking travelers to arrive early before their flight.
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