Funding Cuts are Coming Florida’s Way

Local, state and federal officials are warning that a stalemate in Washington, D.C., could lead to an estimated $85 billion in spending cuts that start kicking in as of March 1 unless Congress acts beforehand.

Here’s just a brief listing of the funding Florida would lose in 2013 alone if the sequester kicks in Friday:

• Florida will lose approximately $54.5 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 750 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition, about 95,000 fewer students would be served and approximately 130 fewer schools would receive funding
• Funding for Air Force operations in Florida would be cut by about $23 million
• Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for approximately 2,700 children in Florida, reducing access to critical early education
• In Florida, approximately 31,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $183.2 million in total
• Florida will lose about $970,000 in Justice Assistance Grants that support law enforcement, prosecution and courts, crime prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment  and enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives

See the PDF included with this story for more details about sequester-related spending cuts in Florida.