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October 10, 2012

Federal Sequestration Understanding Impacts to Your City & How to Take Action. October 10, 2012. Federal Sequestration: Impact on California Cities . Federal Sequestration Summary and Projected Impacts Advocacy Efforts Underway on the Sequester What You Can Do to Help.

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October 10, 2012

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  1. Federal Sequestration Understanding Impacts to Your City & How to Take Action October 10, 2012

  2. Federal Sequestration: Impact on California Cities • Federal Sequestration Summary and Projected Impacts • Advocacy Efforts Underway on the Sequester • What You Can Do to Help

  3. How to Ask A Question • All phone lines have been muted. • For Questions - Use the Q&A window to the right side of your screen. • Please enter your Name, Title and City when you ask a question.

  4. League Legislative Advocates • Dorothy Holzem • Associate Legislative Representative • Dustin McDonald • League of California Cities Federal Advocate

  5. FY 2013 Appropriations Federal Sequestration Background • August 2011 – Congress approves the Budget Control Act • Set automatic spending caps on federal programs • Created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee) • Super Committee failure results in federal sequestration • $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts to federal programs through 2021. • 50% of cuts to come from non-defense discretionary programs. • 50% of cuts to come from defense programs.

  6. Impacted Programs • Sequestration would impose cuts to federal programs that benefit local governments in FY 2013: • ProgramProjected Cut • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 8.4% • HOME Investment Partnership 8.4% • COPS 8.2% • Byrne Justice Assistance Grants 8.2% • Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF) 8.4% • Water Infrastructure Funding (Army Corps of Engineers) 8.2% • Sequestration would reduce funding for these programs by an estimated 28% between FY 2013 and FY 2021.

  7. Additional Impacts • $739 million in highway and road funding is vulnerable to federal sequestration • National Defense Programs – California stands to lose $2 billion in defense contract revenue • 135,000 private-sector jobs and $11.7 billion in gross state product (GSP)

  8. Status of Sequester • Congress will renew debate on reorganizing the sequester in November. • Six week legislative session to make revisions to the sequester will begin on November 12.

  9. Advocacy on the Sequester • Strong and ongoing advocacy effort underway on avoiding defense cuts. • Nascent effort to protect local programs.

  10. Key Points • Deficit reduction should not shift costs to local governments. • 83.7 percent of the nation's population resides in metropolitan areas. • Metro areas have been responsible for nearly 88 percent of the recovery in the nation's real GNP and over 83 percent of employment growth to date. • Non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs are successful and productive, leveraging significant funding from non-federal sources to help spur economic recovery. • Achieving deficit reduction cannot be done solely through cuts to local government programs. • NDD programs are account for less than 1/5 of the total federal budget. • 90% of federal deficit reduction over the last two years has focused cutting NDD spending. • Even if discretionary spending were reduced by 100 percent, the federal government would still face a $500 billion annual deficit.

  11. What Can You Do? • This is a critical time for cities to weigh in with your members of Congress and Senators. • Urge California’s 53 members of Congress and 2 Senators to hold the line on funding for our priority programs to sustain national economic growth. • We need the help of all of California’s cities to convey this message through: • Direct contact • Letters • Op-Eds

  12. Focus on Program Benefits • Describe how funding from these programs has helped your city: • Increase or retain jobs • Leverage private or state funding • Help small businesses • Support local economic expansion • Be specific

  13. Focus on Economic Impacts • Describe how additional cuts to these programs would impact your city: • Local infrastructure projects delayed or eliminated • Local social service projects reduced or eliminated • Employee layoffs • Support to small businesses

  14. Be Prepared for the Discussion • Refer your members of Congress to leading bipartisan studies on deficit reduction that contain recommendations. • Reiterate the message that local programs have already been cut severely over the past two federal fiscal years and negative economic impacts have resulted.

  15. Start Today!!! • Members of Congress are home in their districts campaigning through election day November 6. • Talk to them. • Write them. • Pass resolutions and share them. • Publish Op-Eds.

  16. Questions?

  17. League Resources • To access additional information on this material or the advocacy resources discussed on this webinar, visit www.cacities.org/sequestrationor contact League staff at leg@cacities.org.

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