FORT COLLINS, Colo. — It is now day 30 of the federal government shutdown. In Colorado, it's felt in households across the state.
Viewer Nicole Kernohan, out of Fort Collins, sent Denver7 the following email.
“I am a contractor that works for the USDA. The majority of my team has been furloughed. The news coverage of the government shutdown correctly speaks to all the government employees that are affected, but what is always missed is large amount of contractors that are also affected."
"These companies have already taken huge hits as many of the contracts were reduced in scope and resulted in layoffs. Th"e shutdown has caused further impact as many of the remaining employees are now furloughed. Unlike government workers these employees will not receive back pay. As the shutdown continues there is a huge swath of contractors and their associated companies that are feeling immense pain. Please include this group in your coverage.”
The United States has awarded nearly 44,000 contracts in Colorado, totaling $14 billion, according to recent data.
Kernohan has worked for a company for five years that is contracted with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Farm and Production and Conservation Business Center (FPAC).
Her company’s contracts provide resources for farmers and guides conservation practices.
She said the biggest difference between how the shutdown impacts contractors and government employees is contractors will not receive back pay.
“We are just currently out of pay during with what's going on almost a month now,” she said.
Denver7 asked if it’s possible for contractors to fight to get paid.
“It's not a paradigm for contractors to be paid," Kernohan said. "So many are going on unemployment insurance. They're, I think by this time, four weeks in, they're having a look at maybe other jobs to help make it through.”
What also makes this impact so detrimental to contractors, Kernohan said, is it’s coming on top of previous layoffs from DOGE efforts.
“Prior to this, a lot of our contracts received reductions as part of the DOGE efforts,” she explained. “We had gone through a series of layoffs already, and those that remain are now impacted by this.”
And if the shutdown continues, she describes the “ripple effect” it will have.
“The effects of this, with the shutdown, is the applications that my company works with is we're unable to pay out farmers for the work that they've done, so it directly impacts the farming community,” she explained.
Fortunately for Kernohan, she is able to still have work through a side project with her company, not through the government.
However, she is taking everything week by week as her situation could change at any time.
