While federal employees have received paychecks with back pay after the shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal contractors have not.
News13 Washington correspondent Brie Jackson looked at the legislation to also provide them with back pay.
Constance Summers manages janitors and cleanup crews for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
“I have one staffer who is a cancer survivor. She called me because she had been unable to even get her medication,” Summers said.
Summers also said after two missed paychecks, employees were forced to make tough decisions between paying for food or medicine and paying the bills.
On Friday, they shared their financial struggles with Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia).
“They lost those hours and in some cases, still came to work and didn’t get paid. That’s just not right,” said Sen. Warner.
Congress already approved back pay for federal workers. But, contractors, like food service employees, some that make minimum wage, are so far left high and dry.
Sen. Warner wants to change that and he’s urging lawmakers to make it up to these low and middle wage contractors.
With another shutdown looming, Sen. Warner is pushing to pass his legislation soon.
Summers also urged affected workers to remain positive.
“This isn’t your fault. It’s okay,” she said.
