Midnight marks sequester deadline

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - The countdown to the sequester deadline is on.

Unless Congress can strike a last minute deal, across-the-board spending cuts will take effect; potentially hurting the local, state, and national economies.

At Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, more than 750 employees may get their hours chopped. The Defense Department has also proposed to cut Westover's C-5 cargo plan fleet in half.

At Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, another 250 civilian employees may get their hours reduced.

State and local officials vow they will fight to minimize the impact, but the sequester deadline is at midnight on Friday, and there's no deal in sight.

Statewide, the White House says the sequester will furlough 7,000 civilian defense department employees, cut base funding by about $13 million, prevent childcare availability for up hundreds of families, reduce funding for vaccinations, reduce services for victims of domestic violence and jeopardize nearly 200 teaching jobs.

If no deal is reached, these sequester cuts would impact nearly every sector of government from defense and labor, to health and education.

So you may ask yourself, how did we get to this point? Well, you might remember the words, " fiscal cliff." The country was able to avoid the cliff with a delay in spending cuts, but the deadline for that delay is Friday, March 1. The only way to avoid sequestration is for Congress to pass another budget deal that would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion.