How the Debt Ceiling Debate Puts State and Local Dollars at Risk
As the drama over preventing the nation from defaulting on its debts unfolds in Washington, counties and housing advocates say they are worried that the political standoff could lead to cuts in funding for everything from preventing homelessness to transforming rural economies.
In return for agreeing to increase the nation’s borrowing limit, newly empowered House Republicans, concerned about the nation’s rising deficit and what House Majority Leader Steve Scalise called Democrats’ “drunken” spending spree, are demanding reductions.
Lowering spending to where it was before Congress passed its $1.7 trillion “omnibus” budget in December could mean funding across a range of non-defense programs would drop by about $147 billion, or roughly a third, according to a recent analysis by the Libertarian Cato Institute.
Republicans have yet to identify what exactly they want to cut. But bringing spending back down to where it was before the omnibus would jeopardize increases included in
