DC Council Voting on Bill to Keep Local Government Open

ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia lawmakers are preparing to vote on a measure to allow local workers to remain on the job and get paid during the partial federal government shutdown.

The D.C. Council was voting Tuesday on emergency legislation to pay tens of thousands of municipal workers out of contingency and emergency cash reserve funds. Officials say the funds would support government operations for a couple of weeks if necessary.

The measure is expected to easily pass. It would allow all municipal services to remain open and untouched even though the federal government is partially shut down.

Mayor Vincent Gray has separately designated the 32,000 local workers in D.C. as essential employees, which also means they're expected to report to work as usual.

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