By Mike Brown
August 6, 2012

A report released July 25 by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies, details the wide range of cuts in education and health benefits for children and young adults if Congress cannot produce an alternative to the automatic across-the-board cuts in federal agency budgets set to begin January 2. This sequestration of funds, required under the Budget Control Act adopted last summer, could produce cuts as high as 17.6 percent overall, according to Harkin. Results of this, he said, would include 1.1 million fewer students served through the State Grants for Career and Technical Education program, 110,000 fewer low-income students receiving Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and nearly 52,000 fewer students getting federal Work'study money. Grants to school districts under Title I would be cut by about $1.1 billion, which translates into more than 15,500 lost jobs. Special education state grants would be cut by $900 million, and 75 fewer schools would receive grants under the School Improvement Grant program.

e I would be cut by about $1.1 billion, which translates into more than 15,500 lost jobs. Special education state grants would be cut by $900 million, and 75 fewer schools would receive grants under the School Improvement Grant program.

The report, Under Threat: Sequestration's Impact on Nondefense Job s and Services, was prepared by the majority staff of Harkin's subcommittee and includes a state-by'state breakdown of individual program cuts, service cuts, and job losses. In a rally held on the Capitol grounds following the release of his report, Harkin was sharply critical of proposals that have made to exempt defense spending from the sequestration imposed by the Budget Control Act, thereby shifting all required cuts to the nondefense discretionary area of the budget. Joined by other Democrats in the Senate and House and by Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Harkin appealed for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that includes increased revenues, not just spending cuts that focus disproportionately on nondefense agencies.

For months, Stanton, who chairs The U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force on Defense Transition, has been a vocal critic of sequestration, stressing the destructive impact it would have on the defense industries that contribute significantly to the economies of so many U.S. cities, including Phoenix. In the rally with Harkin, Stanton shifted to the impact sequestration would have on programs such as Head Start and Title I, declaring that he can't run the city that he wants to run “if we slash and burn Head Start. That's our future.” Stanton also referred to the critical role education programs play in the nation's security. “There is nothing more important to the national defense of this country than a strong education system,” he said.