How a federal government shutdown impacts Fairfax City

Over the last week the news has been focused on whether the federal government will shutdown due to a lack of funding for the current fiscal year ending September 30.

Some may wonder - how would the City of Fairfax, our residents and economy be impacted?

Operationally, the City will not be directly affected by the shutdown since we don't get regular funding from the federal government. The exception could be if some grant payments are delayed and if something unanticipated happens the longer a furlough goes on.

However, the City's economy won't escape the impact of a shutdown by virtue of being part of a dynamic Northern Virginia economy, especially if the shutdown is of any significant duration like a week or two.

Here's how we'd be impacted:

1. In the 11th Congressional District (Fairfax County, City of Fairfax and Prince William County) there are 58,000 federal employees. That's 58,000 people - our neighbors in the City and surrounding area - whose lives will be knocked off-kilter as a result of this situation. And after about two weeks, according to various reports, employees of federal contractors may start to be furloughed.

2. Beside the human toll the shutdown will have on City residents who are federal employees or work for government contractors who are furloughed, there will be an impact on the City's economy.

The regional economy has, thankfully, weathered the worst of the economic donwturn because of its location and proximity to the federal government. As City staff have noted before, we have a robust professional services sector in the City, which includes federal contractors. We also have a solid hospitality sector that relies on spending by the federal government and contractors.

We also benefit directly from the fact that Fairfax County ranks "first in the nation based on the value of federal procurement dollars received" and that one-half of all federal contractors located in the D.C. area are in Northern Virginial. In fact, nearly one-third of the City's 4.1 million square feet of commercial office space is "currently occupied by federal offices or by businesses which consider the federal government" a primary client.

3. Small businesses in the City that rely on the spending of the employees of the both federal employees and contractors working in this office space will see an impact on their bottom-line. If the workers aren't around to spend their money, those businesses will then suffer.

4. People that were furloughed could stop spending money in our City businesses because they have become more frugal as they seek to slow down their spending in light of the fact that they aren't getting paychecks. And when they do go back to work they likely won't get back wages so any extra money will go to paying off debts and shoring up savings they used.

As I write this it is almost time for people to end their work day and their work week - and seven hours away from a possible shutdown of the federal government.

For most people, the weekend is something to look forward to - a time to rest and spend time with family and friends. But for our neighbors and friends who are impacted by this potential shutdown it will be a time of high anxiety, wondering if they will going to work on Monday, wondering when their next paycheck will come and to be blunt - trying to figure out how they got the short end of the stick of an ideological tug of war that they didn't start.

Tank farm bill goes to Governor ... again

Sen. Chap Petersen just reported not too long ago that the Governor's amendments to the "tank farm" legislation were voted down 23-17 in the Senate. That's great news.

Now the legislation goes back to the Governor where he can either sign or veto it. I hope that he will sign it as the General Assembly has now spoken twice on this and have said they want the underlying legislation that will require the "tank farm" owners to upgrade their facilities in 10 years.

The Governor is a smart guy and this is legislation that's good for Virginia. I hope he does the right thing and signs the bill.

Why the Governor is wrong on the tank farm ...

As the Washington Post reported this morning, the Governor is going to submit amendments that would gut legislation sponsored by Sen. Chap Peteresen and Del. David Bulova that provide common-sense environmental protections at the "tank farm" on Pickett Road.

The legislation - which was approved unianiomously in the General Assembly - would simply require the owners of the facility and businesses that are on the "tank farm" to bring their tanks up to state code. How hard is that? It doesn't shut anyone down, doesn't prevent them from operating - it simply states that they need to come into the 21st century and have equipment that is safe. In fact, the legislation gives the companies - get this - until 2021. That means when my daughter is 20 the tanks would be up to code. Really, Governor? You want to leave in place 20th century oil tanks for that long? So much for innovation in the Commonwealth.

This legislation originated as part of a meeting convened by the Mayor and City Council last year where Chap, David, Congressman Gerry Connolly, Fairfax County Board Chair Sharon Bulova and others brainstormed ideas on ways to increase oversight of the facility and enforcement of activities that ran afowl of the law.

Many of the ideas, we found, weren't able to be implemented or even proposed because of pre-existing federal and/or state laws. However, we have been successful in other ways, including having the DEQ level penalties against the facility for infractions and most importanty, the legislation sponsored by Chap and David.

Unfortunately, the Governor and Attorney General see things differently. They are both flat-out wrong. The Governor's amendments that would strip out the original language and give more authority to the state's Water Control Board is an old Richmond trick: when you don't like a certain piece of legislation you either study it or give it to a board to deal with.

And the Attorney General's contention that this legislation is targeting one company - Citgo - is again flat-out wrong. There are multiple companies on the "tank farm," including BP. Last time I checked, BP didn't exactly have a stellar record with safety, which makes this opposition to the legislation even more puzzling since the cost to upgrade is probably pretty minimal but the bad PR they get just reinforces their cavalier attitude.

But this is beside the point. The fact is that the "tank farm" is a near and present threat to the citizens of the City and County of Fairfax. Over the last several months we have seen thousands and thousands of gallons of petroleum product spilled, Lord knows where it's going, and multiple truck crashes as 18-wheelers barrel down Pickett to take a left onto Little River Turnpike.

The General Assembly meets today for its re-convened session where they will consider the Governor's amendments. My guess is that they won't accept his amendments on the "tank farm" legislation, but then the Governor could simply veto the measure, which would be a shame.

This fight isn't over. If anything, it's bringing the City and County and all of our residents together. And that is certainly a good thing.