Sequester Day: What Does It Mean?

Today is the first day of March - and it's also Sequester Day in the good ol' USA. The U.S. Senate failed to pass both Republican and Democratic alternatives to head off across-the-board spending cuts, nearly guaranteeing Washington will blow past a Friday deadline to avoid or replace $85 billion in cuts that threaten economic growth, military readiness and jobs. The Democratic alternative would have replaced the cuts, known as the sequester, with a combination of a minimum 30% tax on millionaires and cuts to defense and farm programs. It failed 51-49. "I really believe that the American people deserve better than what the Republicans in this building believe is the right thing," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The Republican alternative would have transferred sweeping authority to President Obama to force him to determine how to implement $85 billion in cuts instead of the across-the-board spending cut affecting most reaches of the federal government. The sequester exempts military personnel accounts and the social safety net including Social Security and Medicare. The GOP measure also failed, 38-62. - The so-called sequester will cut about $42.5 billion from defense discretionary spending and another $42.5 billion in domestic discretionary spending this year. It was originally passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 after a "super committee" couldn't reach a deal to cut $1.5 trillion over 10 years from the federal budget. If allowed to continue, the sequester is designed to chop $1.2 trillion from the federal government over 10 years.
How do different states fare under the sequester?
Colorado: Colorado stands to lose $85 million in federal funding and will suffer an $810 million hit to economic activity from defense-related spending cuts this year. About 12,400 Colorado defense civilians could be furloughed, customs lines at Denver International Airport could lengthen, some small airports could be shuttered because there would be no air-traffic-control facilities, and the state's meat and poultry plants could temporarily shut down because of a shortage of federal inspectors, according to estimates of impacts from state and federal agencies.

Colorado will lose $564,946 in investments in first responders.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture would likely furlough food manufacturing facility inspectors and 122 facilities in Colorado may have to curtail hours.

There would be reduced hours of operations for national parks' visitors centers and shorter seasons for camping, hiking and other recreational activity.

At major international airports, including Denver International Airport, average wait times to clear customs could increase by 50 percent.

115 Colorado teachers could lose their jobs because they are funded by Title I grants.

3,830 fewer Colorado special education students would receive support.

More than 12,400 civilian contractors for the Department of Defense in Colorado could be furloughed.

Broomfield Tower in Westminster and Front Range Airport in Broomfield could be closed down because of limitations to air traffic control.

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Florida: Air travel, for example would see widespread effects."Sequestration will reduce the number of flights available and cause delays because air traffic controllers will be furloughed. The simple fact is that less controllers means that less flights will be handled,"said Sean Cassidy, Airline Pilots Association.Democratic Senator Bill Nelson released a specific list of Florida programs that would be impacted by the cuts.

• 749 reading teachers could lose their jobs
• 2700 children would lose access to Headstart programs to get them ready for school
• 16,000 special education students would see fewer services.
• In research dollars, Florida would lose $25.1 million in medical research funding
• $8.3 million that would go to fund research at colleges and universities could be lost.
• Cuts to health programs mean 1016 fewer low income women will receive mammograms and other cancer screenings
• 7950 fewer uninsured children will receive vaccinations.
• Even seniors could be affected, with nearly $3 million dollars cut from food programs like meals-on-wheels.

Governor Rick Scott chided Washington today, "It's disappointing that the federal government can't do what we've done in our state. We've made tough choices and it's worked. Now we have a projected budget surplus for the first time since 2008 - 2009." A surplus that could be needed if Florida loses 276 million dollars in federal spending.

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Kansas: The Kansas-specific cuts detailed in the White House report include: Military spending — A $78 million reduction in operating funds for the state’s Army bases plus $1 million for Air Force operations. The report said 8,000 civilian employees would be given unpaid furloughs, reducing gross pay by $36.7 million. The report was not clear on whether the furloughs would be included in the base operations cuts or in addition to them, and the White House press office was not immediately able to clarify that. If the furloughs are in addition to the base operations reduction, the military spending cut in the state would total $115.7 million.
 Schools — Kansas would lose $5.5 million in funding for elementary and secondary schools, which the White House said would put about 80 teacher and aide jobs at risk. The state also would lose about $5.3 million in funding for an additional 60 teachers, aides and staff who provide services to children with disabilities.
 Head Start and child care — Cuts would eliminate funding for approximately 500 children who attend early education programs and another 400 children of low-income working parents who receive assistance in paying for child care.
 Higher education — About 310 fewer Kansas students would receive financial aid for college and 140 fewer students would be offered work-study jobs to help pay for their education.
 Senior nutrition — The state would lose $209,000 that helps provide meals for elderly residents.
 Environment — Kansas would lose about $1.8 million in funding for programs to ensure clean air and water and to prevent pollution from pesticides and hazardous waste. In addition, the state would lose $772,000 in grants for fish and wildlife protection.
 Job search and training — Kansas would lose about $322,000 for job assistance, meaning about 11,130 fewer people would receive training and assistance in finding work.
 Public health — Kansas would not receive more than $1 million in grants, including $610,000 for substance abuse, prevention and treatment; $273,000 to prepare for responses to threats such as infectious disease outbreaks, bioterrorism, nuclear or chemical accidents; $85,000 for childhood vaccinations; and $65,000 for HIV testing.
 Law enforcement — The state would lose $149,000 in justice administration grants supporting various programs for police, courts, corrections, drug treatment and victim and witness assistance.
 Domestic violence — Kansas would lose about $61,000 in funds, resulting in as many as 200 domestic-violence victims not receiving services.
Kansas also would be affected by nationwide cuts in federal services such as aviation safety and security, emergency response, immigration enforcement, food safety, small-business loans and mental-health treatment, the White House said. Kansas-specific amounts were not detailed in the report.
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Virginia:

- Military: About 90,000 civilian Department of Defense employees in Virginia would be furloughed. Funding for Army base operations would be cut by about $146 million. Air Force operations funding would be cut by about $8 million. Maintenance of 11 Navy ships in Norfolk would be canceled and four projects at Norfolk, Dahlgren and Oceana would be deferred. Other modernization and demolition projects would be delayed.

- Teachers and schools: Virginia would lose about $14 million in funding for primary and secondary schools. About 190 teacher and aide jobs would be at risk. Virginia also would lose about $13.9 million in funding for about 170 teachers, aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.

- Public health: Virginia would lose about $2.1 million in funding to help prevent and treat substance abuse. The state also would lose about $764,000 in funding to help improve its response to infectious diseases, natural disasters, and other public health threats. A $337,000 cut in funding for the Virginia State Department of Health would reduce the number of HIV tests by around 8,400. Virginia also would lose about $241,000 for vaccinations for children, including measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza, and Hepatitis B.

- Environment: Virginia would lose nearly $3 million in funding for clean water, air quality and prevention of pollution from pesticides and hazardous waste. The state also would lose $826,000 for fish and wildlife protection.

- Head Start: About 1,000 children in Virginia would lose Head Start and Early Head Start services.

- Work-study: Aid would be provided to around 2,120 fewer low income students in Virginia to help them finance the costs of college. Funding for work-study jobs would go to around 840 fewer students.

- Law enforcement and public safety: Virginia would lose about $276,000 in grants for law enforcement, prosecution and courts, crime prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.

- Job search assistance: Virginia would lose about $348,000 in funding for job search assistance, referral, and placement. About 18,390 people would be affected.

- Domestic violence: Virginia could lose up to $172,000 in funding for services to victims of domestic violence.

- Seniors: Virginia would lose about $1.2 million in funding to provide meals for seniors.

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Wisconsin: the state would lose nearly $29 million in federal funding and grants. The cuts could mean less money for teachers, financial assistance for students, childcare and the state's public health system. The White House states one of the areas that could be hit the hardest is education. About $10.1 million in funding for education for children with disabilities will be cut. The White House says the funding loss would affect about 120 teachers, aides and staff. The state's secondary and primary schools could lose another $8.5 million, putting about 120 teacher and aide jobs at risk, serving about 10,000 fewer students and about cutting the funding of about 50 schools. Head Start would also be eliminated for about 900 Wisconsin children.

 The White House report says the next largest cuts would come from $3.875 million in funding for clean water and air quality and $1.479 million worth of grants for fish and wildlife protection.

State public health services could see $2.04 million in cuts to money used for response to public health threats, substance abuse treatment programs and HIV testing. The state could also lose $173,000 for childhood vaccinations; about 2,500 could be affected.

  Federal employees will also be impacted. Union officials representing federal prison employees say workers at the medium security prison in Oxford will be furloughed to cut costs. "We can't furlough inmates, but apparently we can furlough staff,” said James Salzwedel in a phone interview. Salzwedel is the vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Union Local 3495, which represents the prison employees. “And we're already running short-staffed of about 3200 correctional officers, nationwide."

  The control tower at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh could be shuttered – putting six contract employees out of a job.

  About 3,000 civilian Department of Defense employees in Wisconsin would be furloughed, saving about $12.4 million.

  And if you’re looking for a job, it might get tougher to get some help. The White House says about $661,000 in funding for job search assistance could be cut, impacting more than 23,000 people.

Seniors receiving meal assistance and college students receiving job help will also be impacted.

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Sequestration is stupid.  Congress is being infantile.  Please tell your Congressional representatives that you are sick and tired of them destroying our country for straight-down-the-line political differences.  Everyone needs to work together - or this country will not be able to stand alone much longer!