With 536 US electeds in terminal gridlock, it is very possible that the sequestration provision in the Budget Control Act of 2011 could trigger on March 1, forcing many of Maryland’s most vulnerable residents to go without meals, vaccines, and childcare, according to a state-by-state impact report released by the White House yesterday.
Kent County won’t be immune to absorbing its share of the $85 billion in cuts that will play out nationwide over the next seven months, but the trickle down affect to Maryland counties has yet to be quantified, said Raquel Guillory, Communications Directory for Gov. Martin O’Malley.
The state’s rainy day fund was recently increased by over $300 million to $921 million–in the event the impasse triggers the Doomsday scenario. The increased funds would cover an estimated decline in state revenues from the 12,600 jobs that would be lost in Maryland.
A recent George Mason University study said as many as 100,000 jobs could be lost in Maryland under sequestration–triggering another recession.
The $300 million hike in the rainy day fund would be committed to cover $95 million in revenue losses in 2013 and $235 million estimated in 2014. Guillory said a compromise deal assumed by the Maryland Board of Revenue Estimates would have reduced the revenue losses to $79 million in 2013 and $116 million in 2014.
“We would still prefer that there are some urgent decisions made to not impact the amount of programs and services that could be cut,” Guillory told the Spy by phone on Monday. “But this is why we boosted the rainy day fund even more than previous years–just in case.”
The least able to bear the price of gridlock will be the elderly and children with disabilities.
Children with disabilities in the state will lose $10 million for 120 teachers and support staff. About 800 children will become ineligible to participate in Head Start programs.
About 2,000 children in Maryland won’t receive vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza, and Hepatitis B.
Programs that provide hot meals to the elderly and disabled will also be cut by nearly $900,000.
Below is what the White House released as Maryland’s brunt of the cuts.
RD Sweetman says
Please excuse my bluntness…But this is all one great big political pot of Crock.
$85 Billion in cuts is a tiny drop in the $3.1+ trillion budget debacle Congress is harping on. it equates to about 2.4% of the total $3 Billion in question, and our politicians are pulling a power play. It’s not even really a “Cut”, but a throttling down or slowing down control measure to get a grip on the ever growing and expanding Federal Governments spending. Even with this so called “Cut’, the Budget is still going to increase. All this $85 Billion dollars does is try to slow it all down..
The Obama Administration developed the foundations of this law, developed it, bargained for it, and implemented it back in 2011, and threatened to Veto it if any efforts were made to eliminate or diminish it’s purpose. Prior to the last Presidential Election he publicly stated that it wouldn’t occur. And now, less than one week away, It’s all the Republicans Fault.
The Photo Op he staged last week with all the local uniformed public safety officers and officials behind, saying that thousands of Public Safety, Education, and Health Care workers would be out of work. Parents by the thousands would be desperate to find day care for their kids as centers would close down….And all those jobs he says will be lost aren’t federal positions they are local, county or state positions!!!! Ask yourself this.. How many Town Police, Sheriff’s Deputies, State Troopers, Teachers, and County Health Care workers are we going to lose here in Kent County? On the Eastern Shore? In the State of Maryland?
This is Politics at its rottenest. It is fear mongering and lying at a level that I’ve never seen before. All for the purpose of “Asking” those who are more successful and well off to pay their “Fair Share”… Since when did Uncle Sam give you a choice by “Asking” you to pay more? He takes, he doesn’t ask…
I say Let the Sequester go ahead and go through. So you folks go ahead and believe the man who tells you that thousands are going to lose their jobs, that the sky is falling and the work will end this week. I say not so.. because there are in actuality no cuts, just smaller increases in the spending…
Stephan Sonn says
So glad you finally showed the good people of this forum exactly what you stand for.
RD Sweetman says
Mr Sonn, I’m not afraid to do so. I voice my opinion because in this country I’m allowed to express such, whether you like it or not. You imply and categorize that I’m not allowed to be part of your society because I “Showed the Good People of this Forum” what I stand for. I surmise that in your world I’d not be allowed to express and voice my thoughts and opinions because it would go against your reasoning or thinking. I think you’d actually be surprised to find out truly how many people in this county are pretty much and somewhat “Like Me”. I was raised here. Have lived just about all my life here. I’m simple country folk. I’m not an elitist. I call it as I see it. And if I’m wrong I’ll admit to it. But it has to be proven to me factually, not theoretically, that it is indeed wrong…And this Sequester issue, debate, conundrum, or what ever you choose to qualify it as, is an outright blatant political lie. And the Media is only presenting a one sided view of the issues, not the entire picture. We shall see if I’m right or wrong in the next couple of months..
Stephan Sonn says
Keep going, don’t stop now.
Stephan Sonn says
My praise goes to Dan Menefee for his even handed presentation of this Hell’s sampler.