sequester

Sequester has Air Force clipping its wings

Larry Abramson — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:57:48 +0000

The Pentagon says the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration could leave the U.S. with a military that is simply unprepared for the most challenging combat missions. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told Congress in April that the military is eating its seed corn.

"The cuts will fall heavily on maintenance and training, which further erodes the readiness of the force and will be costly to regain in the future," he said.

Canceled open house latest effect of sequester on parks, science

Bellamy Pailthorp — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:53:47 +0000

A much-loved open house at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver did not take place over the weekend. The center is run by the U.S. Geological Survey, which had to cancel the program due to the federal budget sequestration.

FAA: Air traffic system soon at full operation

The Associated Press — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:57:50 +0000

The Federal Aviation Administration says it's suspended all employee furloughs and says air traffic facilities will begin returning to regular staffing levels over the next 24 hours.

The FAA says in a statement that the air traffic system will resume normal operations by Sunday evening.

Senate passes bill to end flight controller furloughs

The Associated Press — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:52:16 +0000

With flight delays mounting, the Senate has passed legislation to end air traffic controller furloughs blamed for inconveniencing large numbers of travelers.

Approval came without dissent, and long after many senators had left the Capitol for a weeklong vacation.

A House vote is expected as early as Friday.

FAA furloughs snarl air travel on the West Coast

NPR News — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:16:08 +0000

Air travelers, especially those on the West Coast, are facing major delays this week due to sequester-mandated employee furloughs.

As much as 10 percent of the 47,000 flight controllers and other Federal Aviation Administration workers were placed on leave Sunday, grounding a number of planes and delaying flights to and from Los Angeles, including at least six Alaska Airlines flights.

Sequester uncertainty surrounds Section 8 housing program

Kara Brandeisky — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:34:48 +0000

Last week, several media outlets and advocacy groups began circulating the same sad story: Because of sequestration, 60 low-income families in Dane County, Wis., were soon to be homeless.

But the truth is more complicated.

The story began with a blog post written in February by Dane County Housing Authority Executive Director Rob Dicke.

At the time, he made what he calls a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation that a 6 percent funding cut — the amount he

Sequester scorecard: A month later, effects still up in air

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:25:58 +0000

Automatic federal budget cuts that kicked in March 1 have had little initial impact in many parts of the government. For a few programs, however, the effect has been real and painful, as the government begins cutting $85 billion from its spending through the end of September.

Many of the earliest signs of the cuts are being seen on the local level, in state programs like education that rely in part on federal dollars.

By law, furloughs for most federal employees could not begin before April, so it's still early in the process.

Hanford cleaup slows while tanks leak, tratment plant stalls

Anna King — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 23:21:10 +0000

Every day, up to three gallons of radioactive waste at Hanford seeps into the desert sand from underground tanks, not far from the Columbia River.

That has prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to tour the remote site along with buses full of officials and media that roll through a sea of sagebrush.

FAA to close 5 towers in Wash.

The Associated Press — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:01:48 +0000

The Federal Aviation Administration has decided that five air traffic control towers in Washington are among 149 that will close beginning April 7 as part of the agency's sequestration implementation plan.

The five towers are at Olympia Regional Airport; Renton Municipal Airport; Felts Field in Spokane; Tacoma Narrows Airport and the Yakima Air Terminal.

Hundreds of pink slips handed out at Hanford

The Associated Press — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:25:09 +0000

Pink slips are going out to hundreds of workers at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site because of automatic federal budget cuts.

About 9,000 people work at south-central Washington's Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal beginning in World War II.

Sequester suspends tuition assistance for troops

Tom Banse — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:30:00 +0000

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - The Defense Department has suspended a workplace benefit cherished by many soldiers, airmen and Coast Guardsmen. The agency has put tuition assistance on indefinite hold because of the automatic federal budget cuts known as the "sequester."

The paychecks of active duty military are exempt from the across-the-board federal budget cuts.

Sequester to result in 4,800 Hanford layoffs, furloughs

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:17:04 +0000

RICHLAND, Wash. – As many as 4,800 workers could be furloughed or laid off at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington. It’s the result of the federal spending cuts known as the sequester. Hanford will need to cut $182 million in cleanup work according to a federal letter to Washington Governor Jay Inslee released Tuesday.

The Hanford cuts could begin as early as April 1, but it’s no April Fool’s joke.

How Congress chose not to be careful with spending cuts

Alan Greenblatt — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:46:57 +0000

Inconveniencing the public is part of the plan.

It may never have been intended to play out in quite this way, but the automatic spending cuts set to take effect for most federal programs Friday leave little room for preserving the most visible and popular programs.

"The law basically says the cuts have to be across-the-board by 'project, program and activity,' " says Stan Collender, a federal budget expert with the communications firm Qorvis.

Local effects of automatic federal budget cuts hazy

Tom Banse — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:32:00 +0000

Northwest military bases, universities, national labs and parks await guidance for how to implement automatic federal budget cuts. The so-called "sequester" is scheduled to take effect on Friday, March 1. Not much else is certain beyond that including who in the region could feel the pain immediately, if anyone.

The commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific says every scenario he's contemplated for the automatic spending cuts hurts readiness.

Boeing plans more defense cuts as U.S. budget shrinks

Ashley Gross — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:58:01 +0000

Boeing executives say they’re cutting costs out of the defense side of their business to cope with shrinking U.S. military spending.

Here in the Puget Sound region, we associate Boeing with commercial jets. But the company has a massive defense business making everything from radar systems to fighter jets. That side of the business has trimmed billions of dollars in recent years because of declining U.S. military spending.