Sequester's impact will be felt in county
The federal budget sequester that kicked into place Friday will impact many organizations in the Butler County area.
These cuts — $85 billion nationally through September — have most leaders of county organizations taking a wait-and-see stance since most of them don't know how much money they will lose.
The Butler Eagle contacted a number of organizations to see how the loss of some federal dollars will impact them. Here is what was found:
EducationThe White House is clear about the amounts each state will lose in education funds should the cuts be made permanent, but state and local officials are less sure.“The department is awaiting further information from the federal government on how sequestration will impact education line items,” said Tim Eller, spokesman for the state Department of Education, in an e-mail.Pennsylvania is scheduled to lose about $26 million for primary and secondary education and an additional $21.4 million for education programs for children with disabilities, according to a White House news release.Like the state, local officials are waiting to see how Congress reacts.“The two biggest federal programs, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Title 1, which funds reading specialists, are forward funded,” said Mike Strutt, superintendent for the Butler School District.That means both programs are funded through the end of this school year, June 30, he said. IDEA funds special education programs, and Title 1 funding provides reading specialist support and other services in schools with children from low-income families.“The district will be affected if Congress doesn't do anything and if the cuts are made permanent,” said Strutt.Funding for those programs would be cut significantly, he said.But for now, the district is planning on level-funding those programs in its 2013-14 budget.“We're taking a wait-and-see attitude,” said Strutt, saying that “there is a history of drama” before Congress and President Barack Obama come to agreement on fiscal issues.The South Butler School District, where the 2013-14 budget is being developed, will make changes as information becomes available.“In the event we receive new information about federal or state funding in the coming months, we will adjust our budgeting process accordingly,” said Jason Davidek, district spokesman, in an e-mail.Federal Head Start funds also are on the chopping block.“We've received nothing,” said Alice Nunes, chief executive officer of the Butler County Children's Center, which operates multiple Head Start classrooms.She said the Children's Center is developing alternatives — plan A, plan B and plan C, she said — to prepare for different-sized cuts that begin at different times. Head Start agencies receive their funds throughout the year, and Head Start has its own fiscal year, she said, muddying the time line.Meanwhile, Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed higher spending on early childhood education for 2013-14, which she hopes will even-out the federal cuts.State and federal spending usually balance each other, she said
Food servicesThe senior centers and Meals on Wheels program would remain unaffected under the sequester cuts.“We haven't seen any problems (that it may cause). We get most of our funding through the state through block funding,” said Beth Herold, county Area Agency on Aging administrator, whose department oversees both the county's senior centers and the Meals on Wheels programs.
Social servicesSome organizations have a better idea of the impact of the sequester.Rob Marchese, director at the county's Victims Outreach Intervention Center, said the cuts will devastate the community's most vulnerable citizens.“It's going to affect social services in a way we're not prepared for,” Marchese said.Marchese said VOICe stands to lose more than $12,000 in three programs.He said the sequester would eliminate more than $7,600 in funding for services that have VOICe representatives helping domestic violence victims through the law enforcement and court appearance phases of their ordeal, plus crime prevention, and housing for former prisoners making the transition from prison to society.He said the STOP Violence Against Women Grant funds also would be reduced by $4,000, and funding for VOICe's senior nutrition program for elderly victims of various forms of abuse or neglect would drop by about $500.“That's more than 200 victims we would normally serve who we wouldn't have funding for,” Marchese said.Marchese hopes staffing cuts do not become necessary, but he said workers would be cross-trained so no victims would be turned away.“We'll see what happens, and we're prepared to do whatever we have to do,” Marchese said. “Counselors might have to work in the shelter, for example.”The sequester also could harm the county's tiniest citizens whose mothers rely on the Women, Infants and Children program for pregnancy, breast feeding and post-partum support; and vouchers for infant formula and basic foods for low-income mothers with children younger than age 5.Richard Baird, president and CEO of Adagio Health, which is the administrator for the county WIC program, said 2,496 people are enrolled in the program in 11 locations. He said 127 people will be eliminated under the sequester cuts and some of the county's WIC locations may be closed.Baird said about 80 percent of WIC participants receive food vouchers, and many use those to buy baby formula.“So women buying baby formula would be very hard-hit,” Baird said. “It would be a hardship for these working women without any money.”He said the state Department of Health would likely issue a directive on which participants would be eliminated. He said the timing of the sequester cuts would dictate whether the eliminations would occur immediately or be phased in gradually.Baird also worries about the cuts' effect on breastfeeding support. He said WIC provides breastfeeding education, breast pumps and other services to WIC mothers.“That is a critical time for infants,” Baird said. “A high percentage of WIC enrollees breastfeed, higher than the general public numbers.”Adagio also administers the county's family planning clinic, where 1,930 low-income women receive gynecological and prenatal care, breast examinations, sexually-transmitted disease testing and other services. He said services for 100 women could be eliminated by the funding cuts.“It's a step backward in a program that's been proven to have good outcomes,” Baird said.
Kelly reactsU.S. Rep. Mike Kelly said that the people who run individual departments should be given flexibility to decide what to cut, since they are more familiar with the departments than higher-ups.He said that only 2.3 percent to 2.4 percent of government spending has to be cut. That should be relatively easy, but he noted some departments, particularly the military, which already has sustained cuts during the past few years, may find it to be a burden.
This is the first of two reports that looks at the impact of the federal budget cuts called sequestration.
Eagle staff writers Sandy Pontius, John Bojarski, Ed Biller, Kim Paskorz, Jim Smith, Paula Grubbs and Bob Schultz contributed to these reports.
