SEQUESTRATION: Locals Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best
As $85 billion in sequestration spending cuts looms ahead, locals are making contingency plans for their budgets, in the event the cuts go through.
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With only days to go before the sequestration deadline hits, locals are making contingency plans for their budgets, in the event the cuts go through.
Funding for education in New Jersey would be slashed by nearly $30 million and drastic cuts made to health care programs and environmental protection should Congress fail to halt $85 billion in spending cuts scheduled to take hold March 1, the White House said Sunday. The federal government would also save $75 million by furloughing 11,000 civilian military contractors, and another $59 million by cutting funding to military bases.
In Stafford Township, school district spokeswoman Karina Monanian said that the district is in the process of preparing their budget right now - as it is scheduled to be introduced March 21 - and has drawn up three proposals, which includes scenarios for cuts as high as 20 percent.
She said since the state figures for education funding are typically released after they prepare the budget, drawing up three plans for a budget is a standard protocol.
"Obviously we are all awaiting the Governor's speech planned for later this week," which will discuss state aid figures, Monanian told Patch. "We always start out hopeful, but prepare for the worst."
Local Coast Guard officials are also looking closely at where cuts can be made in the event of the sequestration, Capt. Kathy Moore, the commander of Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia, told the crew at the Barnegat Light station at an event held here recently.
"We are working on evaluating where to make cuts if sequestration takes effect," Moore said. She declined to elaborate further, referring questions from a Patch reporter to the press office at national headquarters.
The total federal spending cuts would be about $1.2 trillion over the next nine years. Republicans have accused the president of using the impending cuts for political gain.
President Obama's plan asks for increased tax revenues to offset some of the trillion-dollar cuts.
wookfish
9:56 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Hope and Change..i hope things stop changing his way...where is the last place to find Obama? At work....
Nj Ghost
9:56 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
someone needs to publish all the selfish, stupid programs that will still be funded. This is scorched earth policy... We need to expose the lunacy of cutting critical programs while funding idiocy.
wookfish
10:09 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
this wouldn't be a problem if people took those shovel ready jobs...that's right there are none....this wouldn't be a problem if our health insurance rate won't go up...that's right they did.....this wouldn't be a problem if he ended the wars as promised...that's right he didn't...this wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't president...that's right he is.......and one question...why is homeland security releasing prisoners in Arizona before sequestration takes effect?....thanks Odumbo..never let a good crisis go to waste
John B Taxpayer
6:14 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
"Stop spreading this guy's propaganda! He has a $15 BILLION dollar budget INCREASE! $85 million off of that is chump change. He hasn't put 10 cents towards the deficit and has no intention to. I think the patch is part of his press corp and not serving the interests of it's readers. He wants more tax increases!
Nj Ghost
6:14 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Obama proposed sequester, got it passed into law, blamed it on the other party, and the media is letting him get away with it
Charles J. Giles
6:14 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
They should start by getting rid of have of Congress. 11 years ago 1,000s of 9/11 First Responders ran to the WTC. To this day, none of us have been compensated and thousands have died leaving their families to fend for themselves. Part of this sequestration is taking money from the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation act. The bill was already cut by almost 7 billion dollars when Obama signed it into law back in 2011. Now they want to take millions of dollars more from responders. This is an outrage. Why not start at the top and get rid of so many of the frivolous programs the administration has started. This is a no win for millions of people. Change needs to occur ASAP because this President continues to make poor decisions for the American people.
T.j. Gilmartin
9:52 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
I see Mrs. Concerned is up to his old tricks M
Tony Cahill
10:19 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Anyone that believes this sequestration junk is being made a fool! The 85 billion dollars that will be cut is coming out of the proposed increase in spending, not out of the budget! There will be no need for furloughs based on the proposed cuts. The furloughs will provide additional money for the free stuff. Just another liberal gimmick to provide their constituents with the free stuff that the working people pay for. Wake up people! If you're not mad, you're not paying attention.
Ann Powers
9:21 am on Thursday, February 28, 2013
AMEN. We have got to get this message out because the mainstream media is not. They just regurgitate the garbage that the Obama machine feeds them. Sequestration = 2.4% of this year's proposed budget, which as you note, is higher than last year's, and there's unspent funds laying around. Unfortunately people in govt practice a fool's finances -- spend it, because if we don't, we won't get an increase this year. We need to cut a lot more than 2.4%, and it can be done. Must be done. There is a lot of waste, but rather than cut things that no one will notice, the pols target emotional items. DISGUSTING.