What's At Stake
Vital services and protections are at stake in the ongoing budget battles in Congress. Sequestration cuts and proposals for further spending reductions threaten worker health and safety, transportation system upgrades, affordable housing, food security for the elderly, and more. In the end, short-sighted funding cuts now will cost America more in the long-run.
Austerity Budgets Threaten Worker Health and Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is tasked with ensuring that every working man and woman in America has "safe and healthful working conditions." The agencies responsible for worker health and safety have never been well funded, and their ability to achieve their mission is increasingly at risk. New cuts are likely to result in more unsafe workplaces, more accidents and injuries, and higher costs for business and society.
House Transportation and Housing Spending Bill Would Cut Rail Investments and Rental Assistance
If allowed to pass, proposed funding cuts would threaten investments in affordable housing and the repair and modernization of our roads, bridges, and rail systems. This would put Americans' quality of life at risk.
Sequestering Meals on Wheels Could Cost the Nation $489 Million per Year
Sequestering Meals on Wheels funds could cost taxpayers far more than it saves. While across-the-board spending cuts, called sequestration, are expected to reduce spending on Meals on Wheels programs by an estimated $10 million ion 2013, these savings will be dwarfed by at least $489 million per year in increased spending on Medicaid.
Penny Wise, Pound Foolish: Cuts to Auditors Cost Us More in Savings
Cuts due to sequestration at the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) led to higher contract costs that are larger than the cuts, according to DCAA estimates provided to the Center for Effective Government. The $11 million sliced out of DCAA’s budget and the resulting reduction in auditing led to as much as $74 million in excessive contractor billing passed on to the government that otherwise might have been spotted by auditors.
Sequestration Central: News and Impacts
Across-the-board spending cuts, called sequestration, are now in effect. Sequestration will cut domestic spending on things like education, national parks, bridge repair, and consumer safety protections. Find the latest news, updates, and analyses on the real-world impacts of these short-sighted cuts.
Visit our sequestration news and impacts page.
