Days before the budget sequester takes effect, military and community leaders around the state are girding themselves for cuts that could cost Texas 91,000 jobs.
From Texarkana, Killeen and Del Rio to San Antonio, Corpus Christi and El Paso, leaders spent the weekend trying to gauge how $46 billion in defense reductions will affect their cities come Friday.
They have few clues, other than Pentagon plans to furlough 800,000 civilians for 22 days between April 25 and Sept. 30, putting them on a four-day workweek. At Army installations alone, 29,958 Texas civilians will be furloughed, prompting fears of an economic slowdown.
“I think it's madness,” Richard Dayoub, president and CEO of El Paso's chamber of commerce, said of the sequester, adding, “I've heard members of Congress say that to me.”
A Pew Charitable Trust study said only Virginia and California would be bigger losers than Texas in the sequester. It also found that 91,600 people in the state would be out of work if it takes effect. Texas would lose $6.48 billion in defense contractor revenue and 12,000 civil service jobs.
“The mood is very negative and very fearful about what this is actually going to turn into long term for the country and, of course, the local economy,” said Richard Perez, president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.