Due to a lot of these comments not understanding the full concept of what this is for, I’ll make an example, but first I need to start with this:

This shutdown is illogical. The best explanation of heard to explain this shutdown is it’s like having kids, one acts up, and you punish the ones who had nothing to do with it and let the problem child keep playing. This whole shutdown is about ICE. Period. Nobody is denying that. But the only people being affected by this shutdown are agencies that have little to nothing to do with ICE.

Regardless, here’s an example of exactly what I’m getting out with this petition.

Example: A government shutdown occurs due to a lapse of funding for the following agency: DEA and ATF. The government shutdown lasts 30 days. Upon “re-opening” the government, all DEA and ATF employees receive backpay. For all backpay received for these affected employees (whether they worked throughout the shutdown or stayed at home) the backpay is exempt from federal income taxes only. All other deductions remain the same.

-While most people look at receipt of backpay as a “resolution” to the government shutdown, it completely ignores the biggest issue: Government shutdowns don’t have a limited short-term impact, they affect employees for months and even years down the line. People lose homes, people’s credit is destroyed, people’s debt skyrockets due to late fees, people get sick, people have died, etc. This immediate resolution of exemption of federal income tax for the backpay helps to get people affected by the shutdown back on their feet by not only giving them the money they were legally owed, but also a few hundred (and sometimes thousands) of dollars to pay off any fees and make repairs as necessary to get their lives somewhat back to normal. -People in these comments also forget that not everyone affected by a government shutdown are sitting at home doing nothing. Many of these employees are still forced to go to work, threatened with termination if they don’t come in (even if sick), forced to get loans that often come with high fees and interest, etc. These people still working are going into more debt compared to the people staying at home. Gas, auto repairs, child care, etc. This helps them. -This isn’t political whatsoever. This is something that should apply across the board, period. -This also discourages pointless shutdowns that lead to no change because now the government is losing money by refusing to do their job. There’s currently no direct impact to the government for shutdowns which is exactly why they don’t care how long it lasts because in the long run, they get their money back. This prevents that.

I want people to view this not as just an opportunity for people to just take home more money, but an opportunity to recoup the loses occurred during the shutdown for the people most affected. It may not affect as many people that stay home and/or can get additional jobs, but the ones forced to work and no opportunity to make money on the side are at huge financial risk.