Sequestration: the effect on Boeing, education and area parks
By Matthew Hibbard and Greta Weiderman, St. Louis Business Journal
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With sequestration going into effect, Missouri is set to lose $95 million in federal funding for state programs and schoolsand more in defense spending.
Illinois will be hit hard, too, with the state losing $33.4 million in funding for primary and secondary education, and cuts at Scott Air Force Base are predicted to cause at least $28 million in direct economic losses in the St. Louis region.
Here’s a closer look at the impact of those cuts on education, area parks and Boeing.
Education
The National Education Association, using analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, indicates Missouri K-12 educational agencies would lose $11.7 million in grant funding, which would affect 17,140 students and 172 jobs.
The largest student base impacted by sequestration would be those relying on federal supplemental education opportunity grants, or grants used to help low-income undergraduate students finance the cost of postsecondary education. More than 21,000 students in Missouri would be affected and $664,000 in funding would be cut.
Head Start in Missouri, which provides education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families, would lose 349 employees in the state and $7.1 million in funding.
Area parks
The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which includes the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse, would see a $500,000 cut from this year’s $10 million budget due to sequestration.
Spokesperson Ann Honious told the Business Journal the park will be able to avoid layoffs and furloughs on full-time employees by not filling about 15 vacant positions. She said the 130 workers on staff would have to absorb basic operations such as lawn care and facility maintenance may not occur as often.
“We won’t be as manicured,” Honious said.
Honious said the lack in funding could cause one of the Arch’s access points to be closed from time to time. Some of the park’s interpretive programs such as biking with a ranger and walking tours could be canceled.
The $10 fee to travel to the top of the Arch would not change, Honious said.
The $1.2 million budget for the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site will be cut by $62,000 due to sequestration. The park will not be able to hire three seasonal workers during the summer, and it will offer fewer tours each day, Superintendent Timothy Good said.
Good said the park’s 11 full-time workers will not be impacted by the funding cuts. The park averages about 40,000 guests each year with about 30,000 of them visiting during the summer. Good said losing the seasonal workers will force his workers to readjust their schedules and do more with less.
Boeing
Although Boeing officials couldn’t speculate on how sequestration will impact individual programs, facilities and employees, the company is making changes to accommodate cutbacks.
“As to the deep cuts anticipated over the next 10 years, in our planning we have made assumptions including the worst-case scenario and designing our cost structure to accommodate a potential $1 trillion cut,” company officials said in a statement.
The company has been anticipating declining U.S. defense budgets for several years and has been “making the changes necessary to compete and grow in this environment.”
Steps to manage costs and increase productivity included some facilities consolidation and workforce redeployment.
