What Will Illinois Lose in the Sequester?
The state might take a crippling hit if Congress does not act before Friday.
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Deep, nationwide cuts are geared to take place March 1. They're the first of a decade-long $1.2 trillon budget cut plan poised to go into effect unless Congress can compromise on a defecit-reduction plan.
Here’s what Illinois stands to lose, according to the White House:
- Teachers and Schools: Illinois will lose approximately $33.4 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 460 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition about 39,000 fewer students would be served and approximately120 fewer schools would receive funding.
- Education for Children with Disabilities: In addition, Illinois will lose approximately $24.7 million in funds for about 300 teachers, aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.
- Work-Study Jobs: Around 3,280 fewer low-income students in Illinois would receive aid to help them finance the costs of college and around 2,650 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 2,700 children in Illinois, reducing access to critical early childhood education.
- Military Readiness: In Illinois, approximately 14,000 civilian U.S. Department of Defense employees would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $83.5 million in total.
- Army: Base operation funding would be cut by about $19 million in Illinois.
- Air Force: Funding for Air Force operations in Illinois would be cut by about $7 million.
- Navy: Four planned Naval Station Great Lakes demolition projects ($2 million) could be canceled and a scheduled Blue Angels show in Rockford could be canceled.
- Law Enforcement and Public Safety Funds for Crime Prevention and Prosecution: Illinois will lose about $587,000 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.
- Vaccines for Children: In Illinois around 5,230 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 $357,000.
- Public Health: Illinois will lose approximately $968,000 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, Illinois will lose about $3.5 million in grants to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in around 3,900 fewer admissions to substance abuse programs. And the Illinois State Department of Public Health will lose about $186,000 resulting in around 4,600 fewer HIV tests.
- STOP Violence Against Women Program: Illinois could lose up to $273,000 in funds that provide services to victims of domestic violence, resulting in up to 1,000 fewer victims being served.
U.S. Representative Dan Lipinski (IL-3) blasted the sequester that both sides must "end the blame game" and "halt the sequester" by passing the new Simpson-Bowles plan. Lipinski claims the plan would reduce the federal deficit by an estimated additional $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years through a combination of spending cuts, new revenue, and tax reform.
"The sequester uses a meat cleaver when a scalpel should be used. It's not the way to go about responsibly reducing our deficit," Lipinski said in press statement. "If we do nothing between now and March 1, we will make $85 billion in sweeping cuts without choosing between necessary and wasteful programs. It will also hurt our slow economic recovery and threaten our military readiness. This is irresponsible."
IPFWGK1
11:05 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
"The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight," - Source: Someone old, dead and seemingly wise. Let it fall and rebuild using the lessons learned to ensure it doesnt happen again.
Shelley
12:10 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
It`s a shame how these elected officials don`t care about the people that keep putting them in office. The only way they might be a bit more compassionate, and understanding is if they have to be on the receiving end of what they give to the citizens of this state, "nothing".
Mr. Ed
1:57 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The government cheeze is running out. When I explain to my liberal friends what is happening to this country by using numbers, there eyeballs roll in their heads. Liberals hate facts and figures. $16 trillion in debt and no end in sight. Illinois is broke and they want more money. Ha Ha, your not getting mine.
My wife and I have been contemplating leaving this state for a while now. Your property taxes will double in the next ten years. Yes, double.
You can take 100% of everybody's income and there will still not be enough money to pay for all of these federal and state social welfare programs. The baby boomers will suck $90 trillion out of this economy in the next 20 years.
As I tell all my liberal friends, when you get your social security check you are going to turn around and give all of it back to pay for Medicaid and Medicare.
Abe Froman
9:30 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
erik why stop talking and leave already...
George Pickett
4:25 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Too bad we can't lose Quinn and Madigan!!!!
The Quiet Man
4:25 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The People in this country need to wise up. The President has no intention of doing anything other than what he has been doing which is keep spending, keep printing money, keep all the freebee's he hands out, keep telling the middle class how much he's looking out for us as he keeps taxing us for the handouts, keeps railing against the rich but keeps TAXING THE MIDDLE CLASS. He has 47% of the country on some sort of government hand out, how much you want to bet we'll be at 50% or more when he's done?
UNowen
4:25 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Idiots who voted for him will lose nothing, because they have nothing, but we who didn't vote for this moron will lose everything...
Shari Dudes
8:23 am on Thursday, February 28, 2013
Obama's congressional pals haven't passed a budget in over 4 years. Our government is 40% larger since he took office. Only 2.2% in cuts were necessary to avoid the sequester....yet he failed to propose anything nor take any leadership to avoid anything. The sequester was his idea. If he was so darn concerned about it, why is he waiting until tomorrow (after the sequester) to meet with the top congressional leaders. Obama wants the sequester to happen to further fuel his blame game on the Republicans and to promote his socialist agena. This administration is a joke.
tmg
9:30 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
That ax needs to swing at all the illegals and scammers collecting medicaid. If you're not a citizen, become one.....if you choose not to, then get the hell out and go back where you came from! Our seniors are struggling to make ends meet and just the other day, a very young caretaker came in bragging about how she just came to this country as a caretaker for her uncle & doesn't have to get a legit job because everything here is free. She was bragging about all the free "stuff" we have here. WAKE UP AMERICA! Everyone is flocking here because we LET them!
America is the land of opportunity....unless you're born here!
kp
2:20 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
You are right. They are more concerned with the illegal immigrants than their own citizens Then you have Michelle and her whole entourage coming to Chicago to promote her "Lets Move" campaign, which of course cost a fortune. Guess what. No one is interested in that. There are way more important issues at hand with the legal middle class that are being hit the hardest through all of this I am sooo sick of seeing the two of them on TV. Obama has done nothing and never will. I will admit I voted for him in 2008 as he promised "change". Everything is way worse. Everything is way up and our checks are way down.