As the federal shutdown drags on, San Jose is exploring ways to pay Transportation Security Administration screeners and other federal employees currently working without pay at San Jose International Airport.

The City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the issue.

In a memo published Tuesday, Mayor Sam Liccardo said the city has both a “moral obligation” to ease the financial strain hundreds of local TSA workers are experiencing and a desire to keep the airport running smoothly.

As bills for rent and other daily expenses in one of the nation’s most costly regions stack up, the mayor wrote that TSA agents are forced to choose between working without pay and finding other sources of income, such as driving for Uber. Already, TSA absence rates in San Jose have crept up to 14 percent from just 3 percent.

In Miami, airport officials have been forced to close one terminal early each day that workers have been furloughed.

Liccardo did not specify in his memo exactly how the city should help federal workers get paid, but suggested creating a loan program where airport revenue would essentially be used to pay workers during the shutdown, with workers repaying those loans without interest when they get their back pay from the federal government. The program, he said, should cover “safety-related, mission-critical” employees.

The mayor said he would also like to consider financial counseling to help such employees access other resources.

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San Jose allows casinos to operate in parking lots, expands its Al Fresco program While Liccardo acknowledged that some credit unions and banks have programs for federal employees affected by the shutdown, they often come with varying interest rates and low limits.

“While we cannot address all impacts of the federal budgetary impasse, we can ensure that they do not adversely harm our city-managed operations at San Jose-Mineta International Airport,” Liccardo said. “We must do so to ensure safety, avoid severe disruptions to travel, and to protect our regional economy.”