Long lines for security at O'Hare Airport is a quick sign of the times under federal sequestration, but soon its impact will be felt in southern Illinois.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says coming soon will be cuts to subsidized commuter air flights from the Williamson County Regional Airport in Marion as well as at airports in Decatur and Quincy. Durbin says the announcement of air service cutbacks will come in a couple of week. Durbin says some downstate airports may be forced to close especially in the out years of the plan. Durbin says when that happens people will finally begin to understand what sequestration is all about.
Flights to Marion, Decatur and Quincy are subsidized to the tune of $7 million annually under the Essential Air Service program. Durbin suggests cuts that are easier to make than the indiscriminate cuts required under sequestration include direct support payments to farmers, worth $5 billion per year, and a $32 billion subsidy, in the way of government-backed student loans and grants, to for-profit schools.
Sequestration will cut $85 billion in federal spending this year, and $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Half must come from domestic discretionary programs, and half from the military.
