Last year, Congress and President Obama took strong steps to make a down payment on the deficit. First, they cut spending by $1 trillion over 10 years; second Congress appointed a supercommittee to recommend further deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion. The supercommittee failed to reach a consensus on where the cuts should be made. Anticipating this outcome, Congress included a provision in the debt-ceiling that stipulated an automatic series of cuts over nine years that would total $1.2 trillion if the supercommittee failed.

Going off the fiscal cliff?

Known as the sequester, these cuts were originally going to take effect January 2, 2013, however, Congress voted to delay the automatic cuts until March 1, 2013, to provide additional time to develop a more strategic approach to cut spending. However, Congress has not introduced legislation that would avert the automatic spending cuts, and with mere days until the deadline, it appears that sequestration will go into effect.

The following report outlines:

• Where cuts are expected to take place
• The effects they may have on communities
• What nonprofits can do in the face of this challenge.