If Congress doesn’t come to an agreement on the budget before the end of the month, Texas is going to feel the pain. The so-called sequestration – the series of mandatory, across-the-board spending cuts – will hit federally funded programs in Texas particularly hard in the areas of health, defense and education.
Josh Hinkle of KXAN in Austin outlines how sequestration would affect you:
- Texas would lose nearly $518 million in federal public education funds. The Austin Independent School District has said it would lose $4.8 million, which would mean job losses and cuts to services for disabled children.
- College financial aid would take a hit. The University of Texas System says it will lose $1.4 million each year.
- Child care for low-income families would also suffer. The Texas Workforce Commission's Child Care Services would lose $20 million. More than 7,000 parents would lose jobs because they would not have anyone to watch their kids while they are at work.
- Texas would be among the top three states to lose jobs, a large section of that would come from defense cuts.
During a stop in Dallas on Wednesday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz seemed to support sequestrationwith a few changes.
“I support spending cuts,” Cruz said in the story, by KERA's Shelley Kofler. “Now, I think we should adjust the sequester so it doesn’t fall so heavily on the military so the cuts are more rational and allocated more sensibly.”
At least one Texas lawmaker seems to be worried about the potential negative effects of sequestration, Cody Permenter of the Texas Tribunereports. State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, filed House Bill 568, which would require Texas to study the effects of cutting financial ties with the federal government.
