With lawmakers in Washington facing a March 1 deadline of automatic budget cuts, lawmakers here in Austin are doing what they can to get ready.
Texas is home to 15 active duty military installations, thousands of military personnel and thousands more in support jobs. A Texas House Committee put together to look at how to prepare for the cuts known as “sequestration” calls the impact on the defense and aerospace industries a particular concern, citing Fort Hood, alone, as having a $25 million impact on the Texas economy.
The House committee warns of an overall potential affect on 341,937 jobs, putting Texas in the top three most affected states, (along with Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to the Army Times.
Without knowing if the sequestration cuts will occur, The House Committee’s initial report concludes with a warning against Texas allowing its economy to be too dependent on Federal spending. And at least one bill already filed in the State legislature would require Texas to study the effects of cutting financial ties with the federal government.
