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news | sequester “the trickle down,” continued... “We would definitely feel the effects, and the effects would be negative,” he says. Scholz says non-mission essential flying would be drastically reduced and all non-emergency construction would halt. He says the base may not be able to avoid the strain of the cuts, but they will uphold all operational standards. “Obviously, we’re going to continue the mission here,” he says. In Idaho, military spending would be reduced by an estimated $6.8 million, including furloughs for about 2,000 civilian employees.
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Lorna Spear, executive director of student intervention and support services with Spokane Public Schools, says many education cuts have remained vague, but the district has worked to prepare as best it can. “It’s been hanging over our heads now since the beginning of the last budget season,” she says. “It does make it hard to plan and know what to tell schools.” Spear says the district could lose about 10 percent of its Title I funding, approximately $1 million, which pays for programs benefiting lowincome students. They could also face a 5 percent cut to special education funding. School officials have tried to avoid any “rash” planning until they determine the exact cuts, Spear says, but estimates suggest the district may have to cut seven to 10 full-time positions. Sequester cuts were also expected to impact enrollment in Head Start and Early Head Start programs, potentially dropping services for 1,000 students in Washington and 200 students in Idaho.
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Kim Papich, public information officer for Spokane Regional Health District, says 32 percent of the district’s funding comes from the federal government, so cuts are sure to trickle down to the local level. “Some of them are direct and some of them are indirect,” she says of the budget impacts. In the coming months, Papich expected to face cuts to emergency preparedness planning, childhood vaccine funding and the popular Women, Infants and Children program, which provides families with vouchers for food. The Spokane WIC program serves more
than 12,000 people each year, she says, giving out thousands of dollars in vouchers that put money back into regional businesses. “Bottom line,” she says, “we’d have to serve fewer clients.”
Community Programs
The sequester may impact a variety of other community and educational programs that depend on federal funding. The Spokane Guild School, which offers therapy and support services for young children with developmental disabilities, may also suffer significant budget cuts. Executive Director Dick Boysen says the school has operated amid an atmosphere of uncertainty in recent months as employees try to prepare for unpredictable and unspecified cuts. “What I’ve heard is 8.5 percent [cuts],” he says. “There’s a lot of rumors out there right now. … We don’t know a lot.” Boysen says he can only ask donors for so much money to shore up the budget, and he believes the school has already hit that threshold. He wishes the staff could spend its time helping kids instead of fretting congressional dysfunction. “The last place you would want to balance the budget is on the backs of babies with developmental disabilities,” he says. “What kind of country are we running?”
Other Cuts
Other cuts could reduce funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, reducing airport staffing and potentially closing a control tower at Felts Field. Environmental protections statewide could be cut by about $3.3 million. The federal government also planned to offer fewer grants to law enforcement agencies as well as fish and wildlife services. Fewer work-study students would receive government-subsidized employment to help pay for college. Meanwhile, at the senior center, Currie says all of these federal cuts force community agencies to cut back on already underfunded programs that serve the most vulnerable. Many programs have already cut to the bone, he argues, leaving few options other than helping fewer people get vaccines, nutritious food or support services It’s a choice he dreads. “Who do you say yes to and who do you say no to?” he asks. “That’s not something I’m looking forward to.” n
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