Understanding the Sequester
Posted: Tuesday Mar 05, 2013

Everybody in America seems to be talking about the sequester. Most people know that the sequester took effect last Friday, leading to $85 billion in across-the-board, automatic federal funding cuts. Many people also know that the President called the cuts “arbitrary” and “dumb.” Yet much of America remains in the dark about what the spending cuts actually mean to us, including when and how we will feel the widespread cuts (both nationally and state-wide) and, perhaps most notably, why?


 According to coverage by The Huffington Post, the sequester is a set of automatic spending  cuts put into law by the Budget Control Act, which was a piece of legislation signed in August 2011 by President Obama that raised the debt ceiling and intended to put pressure on Congress to establish a long-term plan for debt reduction. When the President raised the debt ceiling, Republicans demanded that budget cuts be included in the legislation. A “super committee” (Joint Select Committee) was formed to best determine how to implement the cuts called for in the Budget Control Act, but they were unable to reach a bipartisan agreement, hence signaling the sequestration. Under the law, $1.2 trillion in budget cuts would take place beginning March 1, 2013 (originally January 2, 2013, but the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 signed by President Obama delayed the sequestration until March) and would be spread out over nine years, ending in 2021. $85 billion in cuts are set to go in effect this year.


With the sequester, government funding will be cut across the board. The military will be impacted the most, with half of the sequestration consisting of defense spending cuts. On the domestic side, cuts will occur in healthcare, education, law enforcement, disaster relief, unemployment benefits, non-profit organization funds, scientific research, etc.


In Illinois specifically, residents can expect to see Medicare cuts for hospitals, delays and other impacts at O’Hare and Midway airports, AIDS-afflicted families losing housing, teachers and school funding cuts, student aid program cuts, cuts in vaccinations for children, potential disruptions in district court civil trials, mental health and substance abuse service cuts, and more.


Check out these Huffington Post articles for more information on the sequester:


“What is the Sequester”


“Chicago Sequester Impact: 12 Ways Budget Sequestration will be Felt in City, Statewide in Illinois”


 

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