The Press Enterprise: Sequestration cuts could hit senior citizens
Services to Inland seniors, including meals, would be affected by across-the-board federal budget cuts, according to Riverside and San Bernardino county officials.
Both counties expect federal funding for various programs to be cut when the new fiscal year begins July 1. The $85 billion in automatic cuts – known as sequestration – began March 1 and are split evenly between defense and domestic spending. About $1 trillion in cuts are expected in the next decade if sequestration stays in place.
Sequestration came about as a result of a 2011 compromise between the GOP and Democrats over the federal borrowing limit. The cuts were meant to spur a bi-partisan committee of lawmakers to reach a deficit reduction deal.
Members of the Inland congressional delegation disagree over who needs to act to end sequestration.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, “has opposed sequestration cuts from day one and believes that reducing our nation’s debt by cutting benefits for seniors and shifting the cost of essential programs onto local governments is an incredibly misguided policy,” Takano spokesman Brett Morrow wrote in an email.
“Congressman Takano hopes that (Republican House Speaker John Boehner) will realize the damage these cuts are doing to our economy and take action.”
In an email, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, wrote he twice voted to end sequestration and that the cuts affect “almost all parts of the federal government, including those services to some of our most vulnerable populations.”
“But the Senate did not take action and unfortunately the President and Senate Democrats keep on insisting on higher taxes to end sequestration, which I adamantly oppose, while ignoring the real drivers of our debt,” he wrote.