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Letter: Federal workers deserve a financial grace period

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Shelly Carver a federal worker with the IRS in Ogden tries to ask a question as U.S. Senator Mitt Romney visits some of the overflow rooms after holding a town hall meeting at the Davis County administration building, Tuesday, January 22, 2019, to hear from local residents.

Looks like our government may start paying furloughed employees again. By the time they get that paycheck, there will be many who could suffer long-term consequences for not meeting their financial obligations, even for one month.

Many of the 800,000 workers (and multitudes of contractors, ancillary businesses, supporting businesses, etc.) undoubtedly were already struggling financially. Missing one or two paychecks only compounded their dilemmas.

Everyone knows that even one late payment can cause a severe dive in one’s credit rating. Missing a payment can affect that rating for years and impair one’s ability to maintain or improve their quality of life.

These workers are owed financial grace. I call on my representatives, Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney and Rep. John Curtis, to sponsor bills prohibiting the major credit agencies from taking detrimental actions against anyone directly affected by this, and subsequent shutdowns. It’s the least they can do.

Laura Grzymkowski, Cottonwood Heights

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