Gov't Cuts

From the White House:

"Impact on March 1st Cuts on Middle Class Families, Jobs and Economic Security: New Hampshire"

 

If sequestration were to take effect, some examples of the impacts on New Hampshire

this year alone are:

- Teachers and Schools: New Hampshire will lose approximately $1,078,000 in funding for

primary and secondary education, putting teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition about 1,000

fewer students would be served and approximately 10 fewer schools would receive funding.

- Education for Children with Disabilities: In addition, New Hampshire will lose approximately

$2.2 million in funds for about 30 teachers, aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.

- Work-Study Jobs: Around 120 fewer low income students in New Hampshire would receive aid

to help them finance the costs of college and around 130 fewer students will get work-study jobs

that help them pay for college.

- Head Start: Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for approximately 100

children in New Hampshire, reducing access to critical early education.

 

- Protections for Clean Air and Clean Water: New Hampshire would lose about $1,500,000 in

environmental funding to ensure clean water and air quality, as well as prevent pollution from

pesticides and hazardous waste. In addition, New Hampshire could lose another $359,000 in grants

for fish and wildlife protection.

- Military Readiness: In New Hampshire, approximately 1,000 civilian Department of Defense

employees would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $5.4 million in total.

- Army: Base operation funding would be cut by about $1 million in New Hampshire.

 

- Law Enforcement and Public Safety Funds for Crime Prevention and Prosecution: New

Hampshire will lose about $71,000 in Justice Assistance Grants that support 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 to Help those in New Hampshire find Employment and Training: New

Hampshire will lose about $138,000 in funding for job search assistance, referral, and placement,

meaning around 4,950 fewer people will get the help and skills they need to find employment.

- Child Care: Up to 100 disadvantaged and vulnerable children could lose access to child care,

which is also essential for working parents to hold down a job.

- Vaccines for Children: In New Hampshire around 680 fewer children will receive vaccines for

diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza, and Hepatitis B due

to reduced funding for vaccinations of about $46,000.

- Public Health: New Hampshire will lose approximately $126,000 in funds to help upgrade its

ability to respond to public health threats including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and

biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological events. In addition, New Hampshire will lose about

$330,000 in grants to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in around 300 fewer

admissions to substance abuse programs. And the New Hampshire State Department of Health

Statistics and Data Management will lose about $60,000 resulting in around 1,500 fewer HIV tests.

- STOP Violence Against Women Program: New Hampshire could lose up to $28,000 in funds

that provide services to victims of domestic violence, resulting in up to 100 fewer victims being

served.

- Nutrition Assistance for Seniors: New Hampshire would lose approximately $225,000 in funds

that provide meals for seniors.

NATIONWIDE IMPACTS:

- Cuts to education: Our ability to teach our kids the skills they’ll need for the jobs of the future

would be put at risk. 70,000 young children would lose access to Head Start, 10,000 teacher

jobs would be put at risk, and funding for up to 7,200 special education teachers, aides, and

staff could be cut.

- Cuts to small business: Small businesses create two-thirds of all new jobs in America. Instead

of helping small businesses expand and hire, the automatic cuts would reduce loan guarantees

to small businesses by up to approximately $900 million.

 

- Cuts to food safety: Outbreaks of foodborne illness are a serious threat to families and public

health. If sequestration takes effect, up to 2,100 fewer food inspections could occur, putting

families at risk and costing billions in lost food production.

- Cuts to research and innovation: To compete for the jobs of the future and ensure that the

next breakthroughs to find cures for critical diseases are developed right here in America, we

need to continue to lead the world in research and innovation. Most Americans with chronic

diseases don’t have a day to lose, but under sequestration progress towards cures would be

delayed and several thousand researchers could lose their jobs. Up to 12,000 scientists and

students would also be impacted.

 

- Cuts to mental health: If sequestration takes effect, up to 373,000 seriously mentally ill adults

and seriously emotionally disturbed children could go untreated. This would likely lead to

increased hospitalizations, involvement in the criminal justice system, and homelessness for

these individuals.

More detailed explanations of these cuts as well as additional areas that will be impacted include:

 

- FBI and other law enforcement – The FBI and other law enforcement entities would see a

reduction in capacity equivalent to more than 1,000 Federal agents. This loss of agents would

significantly impact our ability to combat violent crime, pursue financial crimes, secure our

borders, and protect national security.

- Customs and border patrol – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would not be able to

maintain current staffing levels of border patrol agents and CBP officers as mandated by Congress.

CBP would have to reduce its work hours by the equivalent of over 5,000 border patrol agents and

the equivalent of over 2,750 CBP officers. Funding and staffing reductions would increase wait

times at airports, weaken security between land ports of entry, limit CBP’s ability to collect

revenue owed to the Federal government, and slow screening and entry for those traveling into the

United States. At the major gateway airports, average wait times could increase by 30-50 percent.

At the nation’s busiest airports, like Newark, JFK, LAX, and Chicago O’Hare, peak wait times

could grow to over 4 hours or more. On the southwest land border, our biggest ports of entry in

California and Texas could face wait times of 5 hours or more during peak holiday weekends and

travel periods. And at our seaports, delays in container examinations could increase from 2-3 days

to 4-5 days, resulting in congestion at terminals, increased transaction costs to the trade

community, and reduced availability of consumer goods and raw materials critical to our economy.

- Aviation safety – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would be forced to undergo a

funding cut of more than $600 million. This action would force the FAA to undergo an immediate

retrenchment of core functions by reducing operating costs and eliminating or reducing services to

various segments of the flying community. A vast majority of FAA’s nearly 47,000 employees

would be furloughed for approximately one day per pay period, with a maximum of two days per

pay period. The furlough of a large number of air traffic controllers and technicians would require

a reduction in air traffic to a level that could be safely managed by the remaining staff, resulting in

slower air traffic in major cities, as well as delays and disruptions across the country during the

critical summer travel season.

- Aviation security – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would reduce its frontline

workforce, which would substantially increase passenger wait times at airport security checkpoints.

TSA would need to initiate a hiring freeze for all transportation security officer positions in March,

eliminate overtime, and furlough its 50,000 officers for up to seven days.

- Emergency responders – FEMA would need to reduce funding for State and local grants that

support firefighter positions and State and local emergency management personnel, hampering our

ability to respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and other emergencies.

 

- NIH research – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be forced to delay or halt vital

scientific projects and make hundreds of fewer research awards. Since each research award

supports up to seven research positions, several thousand personnel could lose their jobs. Many

projects would be difficult to pursue at reduced levels and would need to be cancelled, putting prior

year investments at risk. These cuts would delay progress on the prevention of debilitating chronic

conditions that are costly to society and delay development of more effective treatments for

common and rare diseases affecting millions of Americans.

- NSF research – The National Science Foundation (NSF) would issue nearly 1,000 fewer research

grants and awards, impacting an estimated 12,000 scientists and students and curtailing critical

scientific research.

- New drug approvals – The FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) would face

delays in translating new science and technology into regulatory policy and decision-making,

resulting in delays in new drug approvals. The FDA would likely also need to reduce operational

support for meeting review performance goals, such as the recently negotiated user fee goals on

new innovative prescription drugs and medical devices.

- Small business assistance – Small Business Administration (SBA) loan guarantees would be cut

by up to approximately $900 million, constraining financing needed by small businesses to

maintain and expand their operations and create jobs.

- Economic development – The Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) ability to leverage

private sector resources to support projects that spur local job creation would be restricted, likely

resulting in more than 1,000 fewer jobs created than expected and leaving approximately $50

million in private sector investment untapped.

- Oil and gas permitting - Development of oil and gas on Federal lands and waters would slow

down, due to cuts in programs at the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other agencies that plan

for new projects, conduct environmental reviews, issue permits and inspect operations. Leasing of

new Federal lands for future development would also be delayed, with fewer resources available

for agencies to prepare for and conduct lease sales.

 

- Food safety – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could conduct 2,100 fewer inspections at

domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture food products while USDA’s Food Safety and

Inspection Service (FSIS) may have to furlough all employees for approximately two weeks. These

reductions could increase the number and severity of safety incidents, and the public could suffer

more foodborne illness, such as the recent salmonella in peanut butter outbreak and the E. coli

illnesses linked to organic spinach, as well as cost the food and agriculture sector millions of

dollars in lost production volume.

- Veterans services – Although the Department of Veterans Affairs is exempt from sequestration, the

Department of Labor’s Veterans Transition Assistance Program, which serves over 150,000

veterans a year, would have to reduce operations – leaving thousands of transitioning veterans

unserved as they move from active duty to civilian life. The Jobs for Veterans State Grants

Program would also experience cuts, translating into a reduction in the capacity to serve tens of

thousands of veterans in their efforts to find civilian employment.

- National parks – Many of the 398 national parks across the country would be partially or fully

closed, with shortened operating hours, closed facilities, reduced maintenance, and cuts to visitor

services. These closures will hurt the many small businesses and regional economies that depend

on nearby national parks to attract visitors to their region.

 

 - Title I education funds – Title I education funds would be eliminated for more than 2,700 schools,

cutting support for nearly 1.2 million disadvantaged students. This funding reduction would put the

jobs of approximately 10,000 teachers and aides at risk. Students would lose access to individual

instruction, afterschool programs, and other interventions that help close achievement gaps.

 - Special education (IDEA) – Cuts to special education funding would eliminate Federal support for

more than 7,200 teachers, aides, and other staff who provide essential instruction and support to

preschool and school-aged students with disabilities.

- Head Start – Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for approximately

70,000 children, reducing access to critical early education. Community and faith based

organizations, small businesses, local governments, and school systems would have to lay off over

14,000 teachers, teacher assistants, and other staff.

 

- Social Security applicant and beneficiary services – The Social Security Administration (SSA)

would be forced to curtail service to the public and reduce program oversight efforts designed to

make sure benefits are paid accurately and to the right people. Potential effects on SSA operations

could include a reduction in service hours to the public, and a substantial growth in the backlog of

Social Security disability claims.

 

S- enior meals – Federally-assisted programs like Meals on Wheels would be able to serve 4 million

fewer meals to seniors. These meals contribute to the overall health and well-being of participating

seniors, including those with chronic illnesses that are affected by diet, such as diabetes and heart

disease, and frail seniors who are homebound. The meals can account for 50 percent or more of

daily food for the majority of participants.

- Nutrition assistance for women, infants and children – Approximately 600,000 women and

children would be dropped from the Department of Agriculture’s Special Supplemental Nutrition

Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) from March through September. At least 1,600

State and local jobs could be lost as a result.

 - Child care– Cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Child Care and Development

Fund would leave 30,000 low-income children without child care subsidies, denying them access

to child development programs and ending a crucial work support for many families.

 - Rental assistance – The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing

Choice Voucher program, which provides rental assistance to very low-income families, would

face a significant reduction in funding, which would place about 125,000 families at immediate

risk of losing their permanent housing.

 

 - Emergency unemployment compensation – People receiving Emergency Unemployment

Compensation benefits would see their benefits cut by nearly 11 percent. Affected long-term

unemployed individuals would lose an average of more than $450 in benefits that they and their

families count on while they search for another job. Smaller unemployment checks will also have a

negative impact on the economy as a whole. Economists have estimated that every dollar in

unemployment benefits generates $2 in economic activity.

- Homelessness programs – More than 100,000 formerly homeless people, including veterans,

would be removed from their current housing and emergency shelter programs, putting them at risk

of returning to the streets.

 

 

 - Mental health and substance abuse services – Cuts to the Mental Health Block Grant program

would result in over 373,000 seriously mentally ill adults and seriously emotionally disturbed

children not receiving needed mental health services. This cut would likely lead to increased

hospitalizations, involvement in the criminal justice system, and homelessness for these

individuals. In addition, close to 8,900 homeless persons with serious mental illness would not get

the vital outreach, treatment, housing, and support they need through the Projects for Assistance in

Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program.

 - AIDS and HIV treatment and prevention – Cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program could

result in 7,400 fewer patients having access to life saving HIV medications. And approximately

424,000 fewer HIV tests could be conducted by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) State grantees,

which could result in increased future HIV transmissions, deaths from HIV, and costs in health

care.

 - Tribal services – The Indian Health Service and Tribal hospitals and clinics would be forced to

provide 3,000 fewer inpatient admissions and 804,000 fewer outpatient visits, undermining needed

health care in Tribal communities.


^ Even though this is from the White House and is is biased in favor of Obama I thought the explanation of what cuts would happen on March 1st. I used New Hampshire to show what effects it would have on a smaller state and then left what would happen nation-wide. It seems that whenever we have a Democrat as President they can't get their act together on the budget. Clinton allowed the Federal Government to shut-down in the early 1990s and Obama allows for the threat of furloughs, shut-downs every few months. That should tell the American voters something. It is funny that these automatic cuts are called Sequestration because it sounds like someone should be riding a horse.   ^

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sequester-factsheets/New-Hampshire.pdf