Tagged: sequestration

Unionized state employees received notices earlier this month that layoffs may be coming as a result of funding cuts due to the federal sequester.

The notices were dated March 8, but were only made public this week.The state is required to give 30-day's notice before any layoffs. The earliest any could occur would be April 8.

Kurt Weiss, a spokesman for the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, said the state still isn't sure what will be cut.

"That's the hard part right now, we don't know exactly where the cuts are coming," Weiss said. "We're waiting for further guidance from the federal government. We expect the cut level will be somewhere around $150 million total, but whether that will result in layoffs or not, we just don't know yet."

With President Obama and Congress failing to come to a budget deal, automatic spending cuts have gone into effect. There have been dire warnings about the impact of those cuts though the effects won’t be felt immediately. But Michigan gets over half its budget from the federal government which means the state will have to face the impact of the cuts if impasse isn't resolved soon. We speak with Budget Director John Nixon.

Local governments and businesses are waiting to see how they will be affected by automatic federal budget cuts that take effect today.   

In Grand Rapids, the city’s plans for a new rapid bus service may end up being delayed by the sequester cuts.

Peter Varga is the CEO of The Rapid.   He says 80 percent of the funding for the nearly $40 million project is slated to come from the federal government.

Varga says if the federal funding is held up, the project will be delayed beyond its 2014 completion date. He says a delay will add to the cost of the project.

The across the board spending cuts, known as 'sequestration' are set to begin today, unless Congress comes to an agreement to avert the $85 billion in military and domestic spending cuts.

The White House says Michigan would face about $140 million in cuts if the sequester takes effect at midnight.

A detailed overview of where those cuts would be seen in Michigan can be found here.

On Morning Edition, Christina Shockley spoke with Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI 9th District) about what sequestration would mean in Michigan and the nation.