Sequestration Could Choke Flow of Money in Potomac, Other Parts of Maryland

Nearly 450,000 public and private-sector jobs could be at risk if the enormous federal spending cuts—known as sequestration—go into effect on March 1, according to a recent article in The Washington Post.

County executives Rushern L. Baker III of Prince George’s County and Isiah Leggett of Montgomery County joined their Howard County colleague Kenneth Ulman on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, imploring Congress to come to an agreement and avert the cuts.

Earlier this week, Patch reported on comments made by the Prince George’s County, Montgomery County and Howard County executives in a release issued by all three governments.

Baker likened the effects of sequestration to a virus, saying that “sequestration would feel like a cold to most of the nation, but to [Prince George's County] and the rest of the Washington metropolitan area, it would feel like a bad case of pneumonia."

In the same statement, Montgomery County Executive Leggett expressed concern that sequestration could “undo the economic gains we’ve made as the county and our country have begun to emerge from the financial crisis.”

The Post's article detailed the numbers of federal workers in each county—47,000 in Montgomery County and 70,000 in Prince George’s County.

Sequestration would trigger $1.2 trillion in budget cuts, split evenly between defense and domestic discretionary spending, according to a Huffington Post article.

These cuts could affect the bond ratings of state and local governments, making capital expenditure loans more expensive, and mass transit (Metro and local bus systems) could potentially lose millions if federal workers aren’t commuting.

Federal lawmakers are currently in a break, so there no resolution is imminent.