Debt ceiling fix could mean problems for states
Sunday, July 31, 2011
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The cost of the compromise needed to raise the federal debt ceiling will likely inflict more fiscal pain on states still struggling to recover from the recession and the end of federal stimulus spending.
While the details of the spending cuts to states remain unclear, lawmakers from both parties have discussed the need to cut or impose caps on so-called discretionary spending over the next decade.
That could mean wide-ranging cuts in federal aid to states, affecting everything from the Head Start school readiness program, Meals on Wheels and worker-training initiatives to funding for transit agencies and education grants that serve disabled children.
Tuesday is the deadline for averting default, the day the Treasury says it will reach the limits of its borrowing authority to pay all the nation's bills.
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