Mayor Joe Smith will present legislation to the North Little Rock City Council on Monday granting a 30-day extension on North Little Rock Electric Department payments for customers who are federal employees affected by the partial U.S. government shutdown.
Smith added the resolution Friday to Monday's council agenda. The shutdown has lasted three weeks and the affected federal employees aren't being paid.
The resolution authorizes the city utility to waive any fees and penalties assessed for untimely payment against any customer who can show they are a federal government employee who hasn't received his pay because of the shutdown.
Smith said Friday that the city has had "several calls" from federal employees who were worried about their city electric bill. The city took similar action several years ago during a previous shutdown, but the shutdown ended before the city program took effect, Smith said.
"I don't have a problem trying to help those people," Smith said. "They're victims of our political process and we need to help them if we can."
The resolution is to be effective retroactively to Thursday and is to terminate Feb. 12, unless the City Council approves extending its terms.
Metro on 01/12/2019