We know the shutdown has affected Kentuckys, Fort Knox and Fort Campbell military bases.

And what other problems do those bases face?

A legislative committee wanted to find out.

Our Mackenzie Spink has more in tonight's legislative update.

Fort Campbell in Christian County is a major U.S.

Army installation, but it has not been immune to the workforce complications.

Every federal workplace is experiencing due to the government shutdown.

The impacts to Fort Campbell and the life sustaining offices were pretty drastic.

You know, we have over 500 federal employees that work in the hospital or medical fields there at Fort Campbell that were impacted over 200.

And the Department of Public Works.

Shannon Lane is the director of military affairs for the Christian County Chamber of Commerce.

He's hoping that the state could do more for these employees in the future, like helping them get unemployment benefits during shutdowns.

Many of them were considered, especially when you're talking the medical and the schools were considered critical.

So they had to continue going to work without pay for coming up on 45 days, of course.

I think we all hope today is going to be the day that ends the right.

But where did they get the money for the last 43 days?

They didn't get paid.

They put it on credit cards.

They secured debt without any any kind of protection at all.

So that is one of the big impacts in the community.

An issue affecting both Fort Campbell and Fort Knox is the statewide housing shortage.

Representatives from both forts say that having affordable housing nearby is important to retain the military workforce required at these installations.

Affordable, quality housing is increasingly hard to find within a reasonable commute of the installation.

The challenge is the impacts, readiness, retention and family well-being.

We we appreciate any support that the Commonwealth can provide in encouraging development that meets the needs of middle class, middle income families, both military and civilian.

According to Colonel Halstead, Fort Knox has seen a reduction in its workforce, partly due to the Federal Army Transformation Initiative from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, which intends to streamline and modernize the army.

We are currently under adapting under the Army Transformation Initiative, which is designed to modernize and align with national defense priorities.

As part of this effort, several Fort Knox organizations have been restructured and or slated for inactivation.

These changes, combined with some other personnel decrements within command retirements, natural attrition, and the continuing hot continuing hiring freeze have contributed to what we now project to be.

An overall workforce reduction of about 1975 people.

Another concern was raised about the security of the land surrounding Fort Knox and Fort Campbell.

Co-Chair of the committee, Senator Matthew Dineen, plans to introduce a bill next session called the Military Installations Protection Act.

It would allow military representatives from the installations to sit on zoning committees as non-voting members, to represent their interests regarding land use around the fort.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.