North Dakota Reopens Loan Program For TSA, Border Patrol Agents Affected by Shutdown

(Photo by Jacob Orledge/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota is reopening a low-interest loan program to serve as a financial lifeline for federal employees in the state going unpaid during the partial government shutdown.

The program, run by the state-owned Bank of North Dakota and implemented through local banks, is designed to help approximately 200 Transportation Security Administration agents, around 50 Customs and Border Protection agents and any other affected federal employees who reside in North Dakota.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Gov. Kelly Armstrong, chair of the Industrial Commission that oversees the Bank of North Dakota. “We have the mechanism to do it. They missed their first full paycheck last week.”

The Furloughed Federal Employee Relief Program was initially created last October to aid an estimated 9,200 federal employees in the state during what ended up as a 43-day shutdown of the entire federal government. The program provided nearly $1 million in emergency loans.