On New Years Day Congress delayed the fiscal cliff, in part, because of a delay in sequestration. Sequestration is the term for automatic spending cuts of billions of dollars that would go into effect primarily in defense spending, but across the board in many other federal programs as well. The new deadline is March 1st, and unlike in late December, there is not as much of an outcry for resolving the issue. Congress does not seem likely to come up with a bipartisan solution as these cuts are set to go into effect in less than two weeks. The League has been urging Congress to resolve these cuts in a well thought out manner rather than the across the cut approach sequestration would mandate. If they do not act, the federal government is set to shut down at the end of March, when the temporary funding for federal programs ends. Stay tuned for more information regarding these negotiations.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or [email protected].