Impact of Sequestration
Family Voices Indiana
shares the following information from the National Council on Disability. You can
read the entire article here: http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/022813
As always, we
encourage you to contact your legislators at the national level to share your
concerns.
What Will Sequestration Mean for People
with Disabilities?
A series of
automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending totaling $1.2
trillion over the course of 10 years are set to take effect this Friday, March
1. Dubbed “sequestration” these cuts, if implemented, will be split between
defense and domestic discretionary spending.
Originally
passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on the heels of the debt
ceiling compromise, the sequester was intended to pressure the Joint Select
Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “Supercommittee”) to agree on a budget of
$1.5 trillion by way of spending cuts and revenue increases over the next
decade.
Congress stopped mandatory budget cuts from taking effect by
passing the American Taxpayer Relief Act January 2 when the deadline was pushed
back to March 1, 2013. If Congress fails to agree on a budget to reduce
the federal deficit by then $85 billion in spending cuts – split evenly between
domestic and defense discretionary programs – will go into effect.
For
Americans with disabilities, this means everything from special education to
transportation, to housing and health care programs will “feel the pinch” due
to the precarious collision of across-the-board cuts and unforeseen
circumstances.
Social Security
·
Disability benefits
will also remain intact, but across-the-board budget cuts would force the SSA
to “curtail service to the public,” according to the White House. Social
Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue wrote on Feb. 7 that administrative
cuts could slow disability claims, "If we do not have enough staff to keep
up or if furloughs prevent them from working, the public can expect to wait
longer in our offices, on the phone, and for disability decisions at all
levels."
·
Pending levels of
initial disability claims are likely to rise by over 140,000 claims, and it is
estimated that applicants will have to wait about two weeks longer for decision
on disability claims and nearly a month longer for disability hearing
decisions.
Education
·
$978 million in
comprehensive funding cuts would affect 30.7 million special education
students.
·
Funding for special
education, specifically, would be slashed by nearly $600 million, reducing
supports for students with disabilities to 2005 levels.
·
Federal funding for
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will be reduced by 28
percent, totaling a loss of one billion dollars.
·
Close to 15,000
special education teachers could lose their jobs resulting in larger class
sizes.
·
70,000 children,
many of them disabled, would be dropped from Head Start programs.
·
Funding for “up to
7,200″ special education support workers – such as personnel aides and money
for assistance – would also be eliminated, according to the White House.
The sequester would place tens of
thousands of Americans with disabilities at greater risk for hunger and
homelessness, endanger the education of millions of children with disabilities
and delay employment services and disability benefits for scores of people with
disabilities – including disabled veterans -- who are, on average, already at
greater risk of poverty.
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