http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/pentagon-cuts-likely-to-1245876.htmlWASHINGTON — Congress’ failure to reach a debt deal has the Pentagon facing $600 billion in cuts, prompting concern in Georgia about the potential impact on military families and the thousands of military-related jobs in the state.
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AJC File Georgia, which has nine military installations, and Lockheed Martin, which builds a wing of the F-35 fighter jet, are likely to be watching the Pentagon’s decisions closely.
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The Department of Defense paid $12.6 billion in salary and wages in Georgia last year, according to U.S. Census data. Georgia also netted $12.4 billion in DOD contracts.
The fallback cuts were negotiated as part of the Aug. 2 accord to raise the federal borrowing limit and enact long-term spending reforms. With the supercommittee unable to agree on a consensus path, the unpopular across-the-board cuts to the military is increasingly likely to go through.
The cuts, which do not affect war funding, will go into effect in January 2013.