June 28, 2012
Benjamin Chambers
“Sequestration” isn’t usually a word that strikes fear in the hearts of ordinary people, but it should.
Why? Because right now, under the congressional Budget Control Act of 2011, “sequestration” could mean very deep, across-the-board federal funding cuts that may impact many youth justice organizations, as well as a huge number of core programs and services that support healthy communities, including education and job training; public safety and law enforcement; medical and scientific research; public health; housing and social services; environmental protection and weather monitoring; and even infrastructure.
The cuts – uniform 8.4 percent cuts intended to reduce both discretionary spending on defense and non-defense programs – are set to go into effect in 2013 and be repeatedly applied through 2021. These cuts are in addition to spending caps already put in place through the Budget Control Act.
That scenario is bad enough. However, there is a very real possibility that defense programs will be at least partially exempted from these cuts – which would mean that non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending would have to make up the difference. In other words, the cuts to non-defense core services could be even worse.
But there is something you can do. A coalition of over 1,000 organizations has banded together under the name “NDD United” to advocate for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not result in further cuts to non-defense programs. Hurry, though: you only have until June 29! Sign the letter here.
Read more about the NDD United campaign »
Sequestration 101: The Basics »
Photo: Images of Money, under Creative Commons License.