If sequestration goes into effect, here\'s a
closer
look at how the budget cuts will affect D.C.,
Maryland and Virginia residents. (Unless
otherwise attributed, information is from The
Associated Press and the White House.)
How sequestration will affect the D.C. area D.C. impacts: HIV testing
D.C. has the highest AIDS diagnosis rate of any
other
area in the country (more than 14,000
residents are living with HIV in D.C.). Budget
cuts from sequestration mean the city
will administer 8,100 fewer HIV tests. (Rick
Gerharter/Getty Images.)
D.C. impacts: Education About 1,000
fewer students will be served when the District
loses $533,000 in funding for education, and
200 pre-K kids will be eliminated from
Head Start , the federal program that
promotes school readiness for low-income youth.
Additionally, D.C. will lose approximately
$925,000 in funds for teachers, aides and staff
who help children with disabilities. (AP)
AP
D.C. impacts: Metro Federal workers make up 40 percent of Metro's
85,000 daily riders. Therefore, the mass
transit agency
is bracing for a possible loss of $12 million
when fewer federal employees and
government contractors commute due to the
projected furlough, The Washington Post reports.
(WMATA/Larry Levine)
WMATA/Larry Levine
D.C. impacts: Museums The Smithsonian, which includes popular museums
such as the National Zoo, the Museum of Natural
History and the Air and Space Museum, will lose
$40 million in funding if the cuts aren't
restored before September, The
Washington Post reports. While the pandas
and the tigers will still be cared for at the
National Zoo, the zoo may have to cut back on
animal training and possibly even close one of
its exhibits. (The National Zoo/Ann Batdorf)
The National Zoo/Ann Batdorf
D.C. impacts: Law enforcement D.C. was recently released from the list of the
nation's most
dangerous cities, and in 2012, D.C. had the lowest
number of homicides since the 1960s.
However, violent sex crimes spiked nearly 51
percent in 2012 and assaults with a dangerous
weapon went up 7 percent last year. The
District will lose about $80,000 in
Justice Assistance Grants that support law
enforcement, drug treatment and enforcement and
crime prevention and education.(WTOP/Carolyn
Bick)
Maryland impacts: Watershed and the Chesapeake Bay While the Chesapeake Bay recently has exhibited
poor
water quality and record-low counts of striped bass , Maryland will lose
$467,000 in grants for fish and wildlife
protection. Additionally, the Navy will lose $9
million in funding for a demolition project in
the Patuxent River, and the state will lose
about $3.1 million in funds that promote clean
air and water. (Bob Stefko/Getty Images)
Bob Stefko/Getty Images
Preschool teacher with students
Maryland impacts: Military cuts Approximately 46,000 Maryland Department of
Defense employees will be furloughed. Army base
operation funding will be cut by $95 million, and
Air Force operations will lose $10 million.
Additionally, the Blue Angels show in Annapolis
and Ocean City could be canceled.
Maryland impacts: Substance abuse programs Maryland will lose up to $1.6 million in grants
to help prevent and treat substance abuse. This
means 2,500 fewer people will be admitted into
the state's substance abuse programs. In 2010,
the state
had more than 10,000 treatment admissions
for heroin use and approximately 4,000
treatment admissions for cocaine. In 2007,
Maryland's drug-induced deaths (14.4 per
100,000) exceeded the national rate. (Ben
Richardson/Getty Images)
Maryland impacts: Seniors and domestic violence victims Some seniors in Maryland will lose access to
nutritious meals when the state loses $877,000
in funds that provide this service for seniors.
Additionally, 500 fewer domestic violence
victims will be served when $124,000 is cut
from the budget. The
Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence
reports that more than 1,500 men, women and
children in Maryland have died as a result of
domestic violence; there were 49 total deaths
from domestic violence between June 2001 and
June 2012. (Angus Ford-Robertson/Getty Images)
Angus Ford-Robertson/Getty Images
Virginia impacts: Norfolk's naval industry Norfolk will feel the impact of sequestration.
The Navy will cancel the maintenance of 11
ships, defer four naval projects and delay
modernization and demolition projects.
Virginia's largest employer is Newport News
Shipbuilding with about 21,000
workers. Putting projects on hold and canceling
maintenance will impact the state's job force.
(Danita Delimont/Getty Images)
Danita Delimont/Getty Images
Virginia impacts: Traffic
Virginia impacts: Department of Defense employees, Army funding In the D.C. metro region, Virginia will be hit
the hardest by sequestration's military cuts.
Approximately 90,000 Department of Defense
employees will be furloughed and Army base
operation funding will be cut by about $146
million in the state. (Hisham Ibrahim/Getty
Images)
Virginia impacts: Childhood vaccinations With the start of school year looming, Maryland health officials are reminding parents to get their kids vaccinated. (Getty Images)
Getty Images
National impacts: Food availability and prices Department of Agriculture inspectors will be
furloughed for up to 15 days, meaning
meatpacking plants will intermittently shut
down, there will be less meat in grocery stores
and the price of meat will increase. USDA says
the furloughs could impact approximately 6,290
establishments nationwide and cost roughly over
$10 billion in production losses. Lost wages
could total $400 million. (AP)
AP
National impacts: The economy The sequester will harm the economy. The
Congressional Budget Office estimates it will
cost 750,000 jobs and lower economic growth by
0.6 percent. The automatic cuts also will reduce
loan guarantees to small businesses by about $900
million. (AP)
AP
National impacts: Travel Travelers will need to build in some extra time
after the sequester.
In addition to longer lines at security
airports (average wait times could increase by
30 to 50 percent or close to four hours at the
nation's busiest airports),
there will also be longer waits at security
checkpoints along the Mexican border and at
ports. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will
reduce its work hours by the equivalent of over
5,000 border patrol agents and the Federal
Aviation Administration will have to cut more
than $600 million from its budget. (Gary
Conner/Getty
Images)
Rachel Nania , wtop.com
Congress has until Friday, March 1 to avoid the massive budget cuts that will slash the government’s spending by $85 million. If sequestration goes into effect, the nation will be affected, but so will D.C., Maryland and Virginia residents.