House Budget Committee Chairman, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), has introduced a plan to stop mandatory across the board spending cuts required by last summer’s debt deal. The plan is actually meant to prevent any cuts to defense spending but targets cuts to other areas of the federal budget.

Ryan’s Sequester Replacement Act, H.R. 4966, would eliminate language in last year’s Budget Control Act that requires the cuts to 2013 spending, known as the “sequester.”

Another piece of legislation, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act, is a bill that outlines the various cuts and savings to mandatory programs that will make up for ending the sequester. Cuts in this bill come from recommendations made by six House committees: Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and Ways and Means.

The League will be working with the NLC and other national local government advocacy groups to watch how these developments play out.  The League board has adopted a resolution calling for a balanced approach to reducing the federal deficit.  Members are urged to contact their congressional representative to do the same.

Arnold Weinfeld is Director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 or by e-mail.