Despite Washington efforts to downplay the effects of across the board congressional cuts to federal funding that includes state and local projects, Sam Stein and Amanda Terkel at the Huffington Post ( an outlet I don't like to quote because it depends on forcing writers to write for free, although not these two I assume) collected local news reports which showed some of what's starting to go on:
Recovery efforts following a tornado in Atlanta are being drained of federal help because of sequestration related cuts. [WAGA-TV]
The Georgia Department of Labor is figuring out how to reduce unemployment benefits by nearly 11 percent starting on March 31. [WSB-TV]
The Spokane County Meals On Wheels is looking at a $45,000 budget cut. "I'm scared," the program quoted one official with the group saying. "How do we keep serving all the people that need it?" [KREM-TV]
Cleanup efforts following the Hanford nuclear leak in Washington state are complicated by171 million in sequester-related budget cuts. " [KCPQ-TV, KPTV-TV]
The San Diego Housing Commission is staring at $7.5 million in cuts. [KSWB-TV] Housing and social programs in San Antonio and Austin, Texas are also looking at cuts.
Little Rock, Ark., faces potential losses in funding for domestic violence prevention services. [KARK-TV]
Mississippi food pantries are likely to take a hit with officials expecting "to see more people in line." [WAPT-TV]
Advocates in Kansas City, Mo., are going to Washington to try and prevent expended cuts to scientific research into disease control and prevention. [KCTV-TV]
They also found that airports in Detroit, San Francisco and St. Petersburg are closing airport towers, and six air traffic control towers are closing in Oklahoma. As for economic impacts:
One official near a military base in St. Louis estimates that there could be a $28 million economic impact in the region. [KSDK-TV] Approximately 8,500 civilian defense employees at Fort Bragg are facing furloughs, and "officials and business owners say that could have a trickle down effect on the local economy" and that "the sequester will also impact schools at Fort Bragg and its five thousand students." [WRAL-TV]
The writers conclude:
"Not every station was convinced that sequestration would spell doom for their communities, and a more thorough search of local television programs beyond the major markets could of course be done. But the coverage was pretty consistent at the local level, revealing that viewers of these channels are getting a different story about the ramifications of the budget cuts than those simply consuming their news from cable television."
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