The Iowa National Guard is laying-off employees and cancelling training in the wake of the government shutdown.
According to the Director of Public Affaitrs, Col. Greg Hapgood, 100 Iowa Department of Public Defense employees were notified on Thursday, October 10, 2013 that they were temporarily laid off for up to 60 days.
The lay-offs take effect on Friday and are the result of negotiations between the Iowa Department of Administrative Services and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
About 2,100 full-time Iowa National Guard employees remain on duty, including Active Guard and Reserve military personnel and federal technicians.
Drill has been cancelled for all Iowa National Guard units and personnel scheduled for training October 11 – 20 due to unavailability of funding for personnel and purchases. Drill had previously been cancelled for October 1 – 10.
Rescheduling will be announced at a later date after the shutdown has ended.
The Iowa National Guard is only expending funds for “excepted” activities like deployment, re-deployment, recruiting, safety, or protection of government property.