NORTH CHARLESTON (WCSC) -
Washington faces a looming
deadline with no compromise on the table.
"It's that moment where
our country has to come to grips with the belt-tightening that's going to be
required to have a balanced budget," says Bryan Derreberry, the President
and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce.
Congress has eight days to
balance the budget, otherwise $85 billion worth of cuts will be set in motion.
The largest chunk coming from defense-related programs.
"In the Lowcountry that
means organizations like U.S. Customs, TSA at the airport, and Joint Base Charleston
employees will be impacted," explains Derreberry.
The Chamber of Commerce
says thousands of people at Joint Base Charleston could see a 20 percent pay
cut.
"There are 5,000 civilian
employees that are involved with either Joint Base Charleston or Department of
Defense jobs, and they will begin to have one-day-a-week furloughs beginning March
1st."
It won't stop there. Non-defense
programs will also have to re-work their budgets.
"Medicaid, IRS. It's
going to impact education, transportation. So, it's across, the board
cuts."
Chamber of Commerce
officials say if the President and Congress haven't reached an agreement yet,
it's not likely to happen.
"They've had a lot of
time to do that, and it seems like all indications now are that sequestration
will happen."
