BOISE, Idaho — Federal job cuts are impacting Idahoans, including a caregiver from the Boise Veterans Affairs (VA) who is now among those without a job.
"Don't hurt Idahoans. Don't put these policies in place," said disabled veteran Mike Satz.
In February, the VA announced it would cut thousands of jobs in order to save over $98 million dollars a year. The federal agency said the money saved would be redirected toward healthcare, benefits, and services, all of which disabled veteran Mike Satz takes advantage of.
Satz listed the VA services he utilizes: "Fairly constant physical therapy. I also have PTSD and have received an enormous amount of support in therapy. If you were to go into the VA, you would see young veterans to old veterans, and you can tell we are [all] dependent on [those services]."
Among those terminated last week was former Boise, VA caregiver Emily Thurlow, who claims she was "illegally fired." At a protest in front of the state capitol Tuesday, she told me she's searching for a new job.
"No warning. My supervisors were not contacted, [and] they didn't access my performance records to my knowledge but they blamed it on my performance. I worked for the VA for 11 months. I was one month away from finishing my probationary period, which would have potentially protected me. The recreational therapy team is not on the exemption list. The whole team was at risk, but I was the only probationary employee on our team," explained Thurlow.
Thurlow’s father is a veteran who benefits from the VA, which further drives her concern surrounding the recent layoffs.
"I'm worried for our veterans' care and veterans population," said Thurlow, "The VA is the main source of care for all these people, and not being able to provide the full care is horrible."
I reached out to leaders at the Boise VA, but they declined to comment.
