Reps. Hillary Scholten (Mich.) and Jennifer González-Colón (Ala.) introduced the "Pay our Coast Guard Parity Act" (H.R.2693), which is a bipartisan bill aimed at ensuring that the U.S. Coast Guard is compensated for their work performed during government shutdowns. In early 2019, the Coast Guard was the only branch of the military that was not compensated while on duty during the government shutdown that lasted more than a month. This oversight left 41,000 active-duty Coast Guard members working without pay, including 360 guardsmen who were deployed to the Arabian Gulf. Also, death benefits were not paid to survivors of Coast Guard members who died while on active duty, and, housing leases for personnel living in government leased housing were not paid.
This bill provides continuing appropriations to the Coast Guard, which will compensate them for their time, up to two weeks, during which interim or full-year appropriations for the Coast Guard are not in effect if the Department of Defense is being funded. This would cover pay for active duty, reserve, and civilian employees of the Coast Guard. It also covers basic allowances, funeral travel, and gratuities for families of service members who have died on active duty.