PORTLAND, Maine — When the federal government was shut down for 35 days back in 2018 and 2019, Bill Reilly and all other TSA agents in the state had to work without pay.

There are thousands of federal workers who are obligated to work through a government shutdown, and so long as Congress cannot pass a budget, those workers don't get a paycheck.

However, a new Maine law allows federal and state employees working through a shutdown to receive interest-free loans to help make ends meet. Labor representatives say that this new law should alleviate a lot of financial pain a shutdown can bring.

Reilly works for TSA at the Portland International Jetport, and he also represents all other TSA agents in Maine as the regional vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local

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