White House warns ME of sequester cuts
The White House is warning each state of the potential impact of automatic federal budget cuts if Congress fails to craft a deficit reduction plan by March 1.
If those cuts were enacted from March to September, the Obama administration says Maine would see a reduction in funding for programs ranging from education to law enforcement and civilian military employees.
The White House assessment found that 7,000 civilian Department of Defense jobs in the state would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by nearly $41.7 million as $7.7 million would be cut from Army base operating funds.
The cuts would also hit funding for primary, secondary and special education to the tune of $5.3 million, which translates to around 70 teacher and aide jobs.
The funding cuts would also eliminate federal funding allocated to Head Start and Early Head Start programs for around 300 students and would cut around $167,000 from federal funds aimed at job search assistance, referral and placement programs in the state.
Nationally, the Obama administration says the potential cuts to economic development would include $900 million in Small Business Administration loan guarantees and slower permitting for oil and gas pipeline expansion on federal lands as a result of funding cuts for the Department of the Interior.
See the full list of cuts the White House outlined for Maine here.
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