Sequestration Could Bring Big Cuts to NJ Education, Environmental Protection, Health Care
The White House details what each state stands to lose if $85 billion in spending cuts take effect on March 1.
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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 "sequestration" spending cuts scheduled to take hold March 1, the White House said Sunday.
The federal government would save $75 million by furloughing 11,000 civilian military contractors, and another $59 million by cutting funding to military bases.
The cuts would include:
- Approximately $11.7 million in funding for primary and secondary education.
- About $17 million in funds for about 210 teachers, aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.
- Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for approximately 1,300 children.
- New Jersey would lose about $4,891,000 in environmental funding, and $472,000 in grants for fish and wildlife protection.
- Approximately 11,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed.
- Army base operation funding would be cut by about $52 million in New Jersey. Funding for Air Force operations in New Jersey would be cut by about $7 million.
- New Jersey will lose about $336,000 in Justice Assistance Grants.
- Up to 600 disadvantaged and vulnerable children could lose access to child care.
- Around 3,930 fewer children will receive vaccines.
- New Jersey will lose approximately $840,000 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. New Jersey will lose about $2,330,000 in grants to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in around 3100 fewer admissions to substance abuse programs. And the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services will lose about $752,000 resulting in around 18,800 fewer HIV tests.
- New Jersey could lose up to $187,000 in funds that provide services to victims of domestic violence, resulting in up to 700 fewer victims being served.
- Nutrition Assistance for Seniors: New Jersey would lose approximately $488,000 in funds that provide meals for seniors.
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.
Bobby
10:31 am on Monday, February 25, 2013
There is plenty of waste and corruption in the federal government to achieve a 2.3% or whatever it is cut without taking away important things.
This is fearmongering at it's finest.
This is the "turning off the Little League lights" syndrome.
Joe
12:50 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
Why not stop giving money away to other countries? Especially when they don't have our best interest in mind. It hasn't helped the drug cartels, or anything else. Keep our money here for us. I'll bet somebody is getting rich and it isn't us.
Joe T
10:49 am on Monday, February 25, 2013
Sequester represents 1/4 of the cost of interest payments on the debt in the 2013 budget. Wanna save some money, stop borrowing and causing interest payments to rise.
Wow $1.2 T cuts over 9 years. In 9 years the debt will GROW to $25T from $16.6T today according to the CBO. Without Sequester, it will grow to $26.2T. Either way, we are screwed.
NJ has a budget problem for this year of about $3 billion. Choices are raise taxes or cut spending. When can we vote on eliminating pensions and healthcare increases for the 1% of government workers at the expense of the rest of us.
Pat Smith
10:57 am on Monday, February 25, 2013
sure, let's just Education one more time.
Ross Chatham
10:24 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
that sentence made any sense... oh wait.
John
11:25 am on Monday, February 25, 2013
Oh yea, no wonder our taxes go thru the roof the local government has the follow the leader problem....Now they are going to reassess the houses to gain back the money that was lost when people appealled there high assessments....thats great than the rate will be higher so we lose no matter what we do...great job guys.....Obama is a jerk
Yo Buddy
1:51 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
Up to this point these comments are spot on. Quotes like above:
"This is fear inferring at its best"
"Stop giving money away to other countries"
"Eliminate pensions and (free) healthcare to all state workers and teachers"
They gotta stop the spending! Bottom line it's the people we vote into office at the federal and state level, if candidates run close to working to stopping the endless spending and sitting the fat then vote for them.
We as country need to stop voting for people they think are. "Hip and popular" rather accountable and responsible .
Philajersey
3:44 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
How about we cut these instead. What a joke, absolutely ridiculous:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/30-stupid-things-the-governemnt-is-spending-money-on
Maria
4:52 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
Can we stop paying politicians ridiculous amounts of money? Lets give them a pay cut!! Education is important it's the last place they should be making cuts!!
Yo Buddy
4:57 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
Nope we don't pay a teacher of $100k , a superintendent of schools the same as the governor , that's where a lot of fat needs to be cut, schools are 65% of our taxes, go there first!
barry
5:08 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
Hey buddy cops all make more than 100k and more than teachers. You think thats fair. Cop salaries are majority of local budgets. Aint like they are working the beat in detroit or chicago
Yo Buddy
6:56 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
It's actually not the salaries and benefits its how do you cut them? Or how does a town, county, state legislators and town councilperson's put a line on the sand and say this is what we can be on this scale, or move on and use merit pay from that point forward. Maybe introduce as of a certain year , we will not hire anyone to be part of union or if they do, no raises for 6 years and cap that a 2% negotiated pay afterwards. All new hires don't get a pension but a 401k package instead.
We need to work out of the box to stop the salary and pension bleeding.
Phil
8:51 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
I'm sorry but they don't. I have the same level of degree as a friend of mine in the same field of work. I've done nothing but work in the private sector while he works a similar job in the public. My salary is almost double his. The difference is his salary is lower but his retirement benefits are higher. I've got none so I need to save. If you want to cut away the retirement benefits, you better be prepared to increase salaries 50% otherwise people will leave in droves for the private sector. Then we'll be scraping bottom of the barrel, barely qualified people to run our towns, schools, etc.
mtwnres
7:41 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Oh they will ? And where are all these jobs that they will be taking ?
Please just post the field you work in so we can all see where a private worker can earn double what a governmnent worker does (for the same work) and there are open jobs by the thousands.
Phil
1:28 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
IT. Go ask any private IT worker or manager or director how much they make. Then go talk or look up similar positions in the public, it's about half that.
Yo Buddy
9:15 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
We've been on a recession since 2008, I think there are a number of people looking for jobs. Worth a try.
barry
9:21 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
Where will they go phil? Where will cops go to work making 150k all in
Bobbie Goldman
7:53 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Bobbie
I'm happy to say that I didn't vote for him. Where were all these people on Nov 6th? NJ doesn't have to be a blue state. The first comment sums it up. It's only fear mongering.
Francis Collins
9:17 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The alleged cuts are like 2.8% of yearly spending, 0.5% of the official cash flow accounting debt of 16 trillion and like 0.04% of the estimated 200 trillion in unfunded liabilities using accrual accounting.
This would merely decrease the "rate" of increase in spending. I think there are many places from which to cut the federal budget. Also the fear mongering over essential services is theater as police fire and education are largely municipal and state functions that are not part of the so called sequester. My god, maybe we won't have gas for the drones to go kill a 179 more innocent children.
The world is starting to reject the US dollar as the reserve currency. When that happens the velocity of US dollars will increase as foreign central banks dump the dollar. Great increases in inflation will occur, insidiously decreasing our standard of living.
Ultimately, someday the bond holders will loose faith and not buy our debt. Then, the unfortunate misguided progressive era experiment that was the US Federal Reserve, fiat currency, fractional reserve banking and dissolution of the gold backed dollar standard will necrose under its own weight like a malignant cancer.
Hopefully after the incredible pain and suffering that such a reset will entail is over, maybe a new commodity backed monetary standard will emerge and our children can once again benefit from prosperity that blessed the US in the late 19th century.
John
1:56 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Hey, U better check your data, we no longer are on the gold standard....so much for that theory....
Mr Cyclical
12:50 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Good point, President Reagan brought the USA great prosperity. We do need another Reagan. We've been in a recession since 2008. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too much longer
barry
1:56 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
So all those cops and teachers can go get it jobs phil? How many openings.
Phil
2:14 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The public sector is more then those two professions and people need to realize that. That wasn't my point, however. My point was everyone complains that "public" worker salaries and that we should slash them or slash the retirement benefits. Well, I hit you with an actual real-world comparison where that would have an adverse affect and all you want to do is twist it into something it wasn't. Teachers could get rehired real quick in the private sector as training instructors, particularly the younger ones who are more tech savvy, as that is something where I work struggles with hiring. Could cops get rehired somewhere else, who knows. And yes, there's more IT work out there then can be hired for and that economy has picked up more then other areas. I should know, I've seen many colleagues go out the door to higher paying jobs.
barry
2:20 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Give some examples of where pub sector people can find work at higher pay. How many openings
barry
3:29 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Try apples to apples. What could a gym teacher do or a tax collector or the trashman or the cop. What fields will pay them more for same work and skills
Loretka
9:11 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
I wonder if the "sequestration" cuts include cutting any of the benefits now being received by legal and illegal immigrants = PELL, CARIBE, WAIT.
agent itchy
10:18 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
not only should we increase spending on education, but 90% of the commenters here need to return to remedial english. goodness sakes, what a bunch of dopes
kevins
6:49 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
So all of us just got a 2% increase in our taxes (Social Security) and we have to adjust our budget to deal with it, yet the Feds are incapable of reducing their wallet by the same amount! Complete incompetence and irresponsibility on the part of elected officials.