Sequester Time! *shuffle shuffle shuffle*

Does the sequester make anyone else think of the Hunger Games? The White House released state by state reports about the effects of the sequester in presumably the hope of bullying the Republicans into moving on it. The Huffington Post has the full list of all the PDFs, but I’ve pulled all the relevant information for the Nation, Ohio, Maryland, and DC.

Nationwide Impacts:

• Cuts to education. 70,000 children will look Head Start, 10,000 teachers may lose their jobs, funding for 7,200 special needs instructors could be cut. Title I funds for disadvantaged students would be cut.
• Cuts to small biz. The Automatic cuts would reduce loan guarantees to small biz by about $900 million.
• Cuts to food safety. 2,100 fewer food inspections could occur.
• Cuts to research and innovation. Several thousand researchers could lose their jobs and up to 12,000 scientists and students could be impacted. This includes cuts to NIH and NSF research. New drug approvals would experience delays.
• Cuts to mental health. 373,000 mentally ill adults and children could go untreated.
• Cuts to security and safety. The FBI and law enforcement would receive cuts, customs and border patrols would be downsized, aviation safety and security would be on the block, too, and emergency responders would see reduced grants.
• Economic growth would slow. Small business assistance would be cut as mentioned above. Economic development would be restricted and result in fewer jobs and leaving about $50 million in private sector investment untapped. Oil and gas permitting would slow.
• Government services would be impacted. Food safety see above. Vets would suffer because they always suffer. 398 national parks would be partially or fully closed.
• Economic security. Social Security would have to curtail services and reduce program oversight, which is exactly what we need. Senior meals programs might lose funding. WIC would drop 600,000 women and children. 1,600 local jobs would be at risk too. Cuts would leave 30,000 low-income children without childcare subsidies.  Rental assistance would be cut leaving 125,000 families at risk for losing their housing.  Emergency unemployment compensation would be cut by 11%. Homelessness programs would be restricted removing 100,000 from housing and shelter programs.
• Public Health. Mental health and substance abuse services would be cut. 8,900 homeless people with mental illness wouldn’t receive services. AIDS and HIV treatment and prevention would be cut leaving 7,400 patients without access to lifesaving med, and 424,000 fewer HIV tests would be given. Tribal services would provide 3,000 fewer inpatient admissions and 804,000 fewer outpatient visits.

Ohio impacts:

• Teachers and schools. Ohio will lose $25.1 million in funding for education. 350 teachers and aide jobs will be at risk, and 34,000 fewer students could be serves. Students with disabilities would lose 22 million in funds resulting in 270 fewer instructors.
• Work-study jobs. 3,320 fewer low-income students would get aid to finance college. 1,450 fewer students would get work-study jobs.
• Head Start. 2,500 children would lose access to Head Start.
• Protections for clean air and clean water. Ohio would lose $6,865,000 in environmental funding to ensure clean air and water.
• Military readiness. 26,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed reducing pay by $161.4 million. Army base operating funding would be reduces by 1.9 million. Air Force funding would be cut by $3 million.
• Law enforcement and public safety funds for crime prevention and prosecution. Ohio will lose $455,000 in Justice Assistance Grants.
• Job search assistance to help those in Ohio find employment and training. Ohio loses $1,786,000 in funding for jobs and helping 57,100 fewer people.
• Child care. 800 disadvantaged children would lose child care.
• Vaccines for children. 5,040 fewer children would be vaccinated because of a $344,000 reduction in funding.
• Public health. Ohio will lose $1,102,000 in funds to upgrade its ability to respond to public health threats. Ohio loses $3,310,000 in grants to prevent and treat substance abuse resulting in 4,200 fewer admissions to substance abuse programs. Ohio loses $302,000 reducing HIV testing by 7,600 tests.
• STOP Violence Against Women Program. Ohio would lose $245,000 in funds for services to IPV survivors resulting in 900 fewer people being served.
• Nutrition assistance for seniors. Ohio would lose $823,000 in funds for meals for seniors.

Maryland impacts:

• Teachers and schools. $14.4 million lost for education, putting 200 teachers at risk. 12,000 fewer students will be served. $9.7 million in cuts for children with disabilities leaving 120 instructors at risk.
• Work-study jobs. 770 fewer low-income students would receive aid for college, and 440 fewer students would have work-study.
• Head Start. 800 students would lose Head Start.
• Protections for clean air and clean water. Maryland will lose $3.1 million in environmental funding for clear air and water. They could lose another $467,000 in grants for wildlife protections.
• Military readiness. 46,000 civilian DoD employees would be furloughed reducing pay by $373.7 million. Army base funding would be cut by 495 million. Air Force funding would be cut by $10 million. Navy funding would be cut by $9 million.
• Law enforcement and public safety funds for crime prevention and prosecution. Maryland will lose $317,000 in Justice Assistance Grants.
• Job Search Assistance to help those in Maryland find employment and training. They lose $66,000 in funds resulting in 9,270 fewer people receiving help.
• Child care. 400 kids will lose access to child care.
• Vaccines for children. 2,050 fewer children will receive vaccines because of reduction in funding of $140,000.
• Public health. Maryland loses $551,000 in funds to upgrade its ability to respond to public health threats. They lose 1.6 million in grants to prevent substance abuse resulting in 2,500 fewer admissions to substance abuse programs. Maryland loses $595,000 resulting in 14,900 fewer HIV tests.
• STOP Violence Against Women Program. Maryland loses $124,000 in funds for IPV survivors resulting in 500 fewer being served.
• Nutrition Assistance for Senior. They lose $877,000 for meals for seniors.

DC impacts:

• Teachers and school. DC loses $533,000 in funding for education. 1,000 fewer students will be served. $925,000 lost for education for children with disabilities resulting in fewer instructors.
• Work-study jobs. 500 fewer students will receive aid for college, and 510 will lose work-study.
• Head Start. 200 children loses Head Start.
• Protections for clean air and clean water. DC loses $1 million for clean air and water. DC will also lose $64,000 in grants for wildlife protections.
• Military readiness. 13,000 civilian DoD employees will be furloughed reducing pay by $111.3 million.
• Law enforcement and public safety funds for crime prevention and prosecution. DC will lose $80,000 in Justice Assistance Grants.
• Job search assistance to help those in DC find employment and training. DC loses $174,000 in funding for job assistance programs resulting in 5,460 fewer people benefiting from them.
• Vaccines for children. 370 fewer children will be vaccinated because of a $25,000 funds reduction.
• Public Health. DC loses $57,000 in funds to upgrade its ability to respond to public health threats. DC loses $330,000 in grants to prevent and treat substance abuse resulting in 500 fewer admissions to programs. DC loses $324,000 resulting in 8,100 fewer HIV tests.
• STOP Violence Against Women Program. DC loses $13,000 for IPV victims.
• Nutrition Assistance for Seniors. DC loses $191,000 in funds for meals for seniors.

As you can see, welfare programs are hit hard, less so in DC and Maryland with their more progressive laws. But childcare in Maryland will be rolled over to subsidize where the TANF block grant falls short. Ohio is going to feel all of this immediately while Gov Kasich is about to issue tax refunds for because we’re in the black after forecasting a huge deficit. They pulled a lot of money out of education, and they have no intention of putting it back. I swear to god this man is just robbing poor children. The job training programs are also associated with welfare because all TANF recipients have to attend job training in order to receive their Cash Assistance, which means fewer programs = more people in each = less effective. Just like overcrowded classrooms in school. Poor people really get the shaft here with these cuts. Every step of the way when I was typing this all I could think was no one is going to care about these if they’re not affected.