PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- More than 4,000 civilian officers at Naval Station Newport can expect to receive furlough notices starting mid-March, now that a March 1 deadline for Congress to avoid the across-the-board federal budget cuts known as "sequestration" has effectively come and gone, a Navy spokesman said Friday.
The furlough process at the base -- one, unpaid day of leave a week for 22 weeks -- is expected to start around late April, as affected workers must be given 30 days notification before any furlough under federal guidelines.
That's according to David Sanders, a public affairs officer at Naval Undersea Warfare Center, where many of the local defense employees affected by the sequester work.
Sanders said earlier this week the center would be able to continue its work despite the furlough.
The furloughs at Naval Station Newport are part of a nationwide plan impacting some 800,000 military workers and expected to save the Department of Defense up to $5 billion as its faces a cut of about $46 billion as a result of the sequester.