Space Coast congressman's office assisting constituents during shutdown

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — As the government shutdown drags on, the office of the U.S. congressman representing the Space Coast is working overtime and without pay to serve constituents and direct them to the services they need.

Julia Bowers, the casework director in U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos’ office in Viera, leads a seven-member team.

Since the government shutdown, the team is getting many more phone calls, visits and emails from Haridopolos’ constituents in Florida's 8th District with questions and concerns about services offered by federal agencies, Bowers said.

The inquiries have been about delayed tax refunds, delayed mail services and stalled Social Security applications.

“We’ve become that liaison between the constituent and the federal agency to help get them answers as to what their issue is and how to resolve it,” Bowers said.

Most people aren’t clear on how the government works until it’s not working, she said. Usually, people are not sure what steps they need to take to get answers to their government-related questions.

“When they reach out to our office, they are at the end of their rope," Bowers said. "They’ve reached out to every avenue they can think of, and finally, someone would refer them to our office.”

“We are open, making sure we are taking those cases in, I’ve got an amazing team here,” Haridopolos said. “It’s so important because people still have VA (Veterans Affairs) issues, IRS issues, Social Security issues. Sometimes they need a passport.”

Haridopolos said even before the shutdown, his team was busy. Since he took office in January, his office has handled 1,776 cases and has returned $6,500,000 back to people in cases in which the government shortchanged them or they have IRS issues, he said.

Bowers said she enjoys working to help their constituents get back on track.

“This is just the greatest capacity I’ve ever had to help people in the community,” she said.

Haridopolos said his office will always address a constituent's case, but with some federal workers not on the job, they might have to wait until the shutdown is over.