Lawmakers Rethinking Federal Government's Role In Winter Weather Recovery

By Rebecca Blatt

Federal agencies in the area are closed for the third straight day. That's leading some lawmakers to ask whether the federal government should do more to help the region cope with winter weather.

Federal closures cost taxpayers an estimated $100 million a day in lost productivity. House Majority leader Stenny Hoyer, of Maryland, says it might be time for the federal government to chip in to help with snow removal in the District.

Congressman Gerry Connolly, of Virginia, is asking Metro if additional funding would help it maintain services during extreme weather.

"We can say those are entirely the responsibility of the localities and the federal government washes its hands of that responsibility, but its the federal government that's the chief beneficiary of a functional system like Metro, and it's the federal government that's the chief, if you will, victim when an event like this shuts all that down," says Connolly.

He's also asking the office of personnel management to reevaluate the government's telework efforts.