Lawmakers to Hear Impact of Sequestration

ST. PAUL (AP) - A month into the federal budget cuts known as sequestration, Minnesota lawmakers are getting an update on how the reductions have played out here.

The Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy is expected to hear Friday about actual and potential state impacts from the across-the-board spending reductions that occurred when President Barack Obama and Congress couldn't agree on an alternative.

Some federal workers have faced furloughs, pay cuts or other work changes and some programs that run on federal dollars have been curtailed. But the fallout hasn't hit every state evenly because those with a greater defense industry concentration, for instance, have been affected more greatly.

The cuts didn't hit all at once, so some of the consequences have yet to be felt.