Markey Statement on New Report on Impacts of Sequestration on Massachusetts

Press Release

Report details impacts on billions of funding for critical industries, tens of thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after a new analysis from the UMass Donahue Institute details the near-term impacts on Massachusetts of the across-the-board spending cuts -- or sequestration -- mandated by passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011. The report details that the full range of direct federal spending cuts that impact the Commonwealth were estimated at $1.3 billion in FY 2013 and nearly $2.0 billion in FY 2014. The negative employment impact of the sequestration in FY13 is an estimated 14,125 jobs, increasing to 20,875 jobs in FY 2014. These jobs can represent actual losses, layoffs or reductions in force as well as growth or jobs not added.

"Impending sequestration cuts could result in impending doom for the Massachusetts economy. This new report lays bare the devastation that these mindless cuts would do to the programs that are critical to millions of Massachusetts families and businesses. We will lose jobs by the thousands, funding by the billions and our position as a national high-tech, clean-tech, bio-tech innovation hub. The short-term budget agreement being debated this week in the Senate -- while imperfect -- represents a first step in limiting these mindless sequestration cuts and putting in place a more reasonable level of funding. But we need a longer-term solution that completely eliminates sequestration, raises revenue and addresses the damage already done to the Massachusetts economy by these across-the-board automatic budget cuts. I will continue to fight to protect the funding and programs that form the building blocks of Massachusetts 21st century economy."

Source