Reps. Moran and Connolly: Sequestration Likely to Happen, Greater Alexandria Patch, February 4, 2013

What will it mean for the Northern Virginia economy?

• By James Cullum

Sequestration — $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts to defense and civilian programs over the next decade — will likely happen, and it will mean thousands of layoffs, program eliminations and near-certain economic devastation for Northern Virginia, said Virginia Congressmen Jim Moran (D-8th) and Gerry Connolly (D-11th) on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Mount Vernon. . .

Congress averted the fiscal cliff crisis at the beginning of the year, and sequestration cuts were postponed until March 1. The Economic Policy Institute says that the cuts will result in 689,000 job losses across the country this year, and will slash GDP growth by 0.6 percent. In Virginia, the State House Appropriations Committee estimates that sequestration will cost more than $330 million in tax revenue, and 60 percent of job losses are expected to come from Northern Virginia. . . .

Click here to read the rest of this article.