Sequestration Budget Cuts: Which WI Counties Have the Most Federal Employees?
More than 77 federal employees who work in Racine County could potentially be affected by sequester, which is slated to start Friday.
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Unless Congress reaches a last-minute agreement on the sequester by Friday, the huge budget cuts slated to kick have the potential to affect more than 77 federal employees in working Racine County.
Barring any kind of a deal, the Obama administration will have to impose $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts to military and domestic programs on Friday, according to The New York Times. Those cuts would be the start of $1 trillion in cuts over the next decade.
The numbers in the graph above show the number of federal employees in Wisconsin by county in 2012, according to the latest figures from Eye on Washington, a DC-based lobbying firm that tracks federal employment.
It compiles the data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While much has been made written on how the current sequestration battle in Washington could affect the national economy, these numbers are meant to give readers a sense of the sequestration at the local level.
Of the 77 federal employees in Racine County, more than 25 work for the Department of Veterans Affairs and about 9 are employed by the Department of Defense.
On Sunday, the Obama adminstration released a report that showed Wisconsin could see more than $27 million in federal cuts if the sequester takes effect. And a report released this week by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators said the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee could lose about $40,000 in federal work study grants.
No one knows for certain what the sequestration cuts will mean exactly. Even if the federal cuts are enacted, the full effects would not be felt immediately. The government is required to alert impacted agencies of what cuts are to be made and what workers are to be furloughed.
It should be noted, however, that even the suggestion of cuts and the notification process itself could be felt in some community economies.
Uncertainty for federal workers means they are likely to tighten their belts until they see what the cuts look like – and how long they last. It means those workers will likely spend less money at local shops and restaurants.
In some communities there may be only a handful of federal workers and the impacts may be small.
But, as these figures show, in other counties federal employees numbers in the thousands and in those places the sequestration could become a more significant pain, particularly if it drags on for weeks or months.
Avenging Angel
2:10 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
This pile is so bad it has green iridescent flies on it. The $85B are cuts of future growth, not the budget itself, but the administration is playing its usual gloom and doom card. "Veterans, the elderly, teachers, first responders, the TSA, and, of course, the children" will all be destroyed. Nonsense.
Blair Nielsen
2:32 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
A. Angel, you know it, I know it, trouble is too many people believe this crap because of the media being all in for Obama. This story is a perfect example. Where have all the good HONEST reporters gone?
Avenging Angel
3:01 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
No need to be formal, just call me "AA". All nonsense from the current administration has been made possible, including his reelection, by a compliant media. I remember the day when journalists looked out after us, not the administration. They were, at one time, the adminstration's worst nightmare. No more. Now they're partners.
Fred Fischer
9:34 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
That Sequester is only to scare you all. Don't be such marks.
C. Sanders
9:48 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
Another Obama crafted crises. What a shame a substantial % of his supporters care more about their Government handouts, than the future of our Nation.
Brian Dey
5:51 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
It is good to see the Republicans not caving in on this one. Harry Reid has the nerve to say the House didn't do anything which is completely opposite of the truth. If Reid wants to end this, as well as Obama, they will take an up or down vote on the House budgets passed in the last Congress.
If not, then cut away. And for all you blue fisters, it is Obama that is now cutting funding for educaton. Lwt's see you march on the White House. You won't because you are a bunch of hypocrites.
dsaff
6:23 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Same crap Brian, time to find a better line than "Blue Fister"! You Brown Noser. Tea parties are for (you) little girls.
Brian Dey
6:25 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Okay Scott, how about whiners, cry-babies, etc... seems more fitting anyways. thanks for the tip.
Brian Dey
6:27 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Won't matter anyway. Public unions are all but dead thanks to Walker. Better days are coming!
dsaff
6:34 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
When you`re gone, YES
dsaff
6:35 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Whats that in the corner of your mouth Brian? Walker??
Brian Dey
6:42 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Just like usual, nothing intelligent to add. One by one, the public unions are going bye-bye. Obama might have screwed up the country, but at least we have a safe haven in Wisconsin.
dsaff
12:57 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
You missed that spot on your shirt
dsaff
6:47 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
We know where you`ll be! Tip, Don`t forget those stains.
C. Sanders
7:21 am on Friday, March 1, 2013
Finally, a 1% cut in future expenditures by our bloated, overpaid and underworked Federal Government.
Blair Nielsen
12:06 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
Obama just got done talking to the press. He asked the press if any of them had any ideas to solve the sequester impasse & I saw at least two hands go up right away. He totally ignored them! (I think they were from FOX) Just another example of "his way or no way".
He din't want the country to hear a possible solution because then he couldn't blame the GOP.