Pell Center Adjunct Fellow Writes on “Sequestration” in Virginia

Jonathan Morgenstein, founder and CEO of Empowerment Solar, and an adjunct fellow at the Pell Center, published an article in The Roanoke Times discussing how sequestration would cause a major rupture in Virginia’s economy. The article, titled “Sequestration Will Devastate Virginia’s Economy,” argues that the state “needs non-ideological, pragmatic representatives, guarding their constituents’ interests.”

In the article, Morgenstein cites an insightful statistic from George Mason University to fully illustrate the impact of the impending Department of Defense cuts that will be in effect if Congress cannot reach an agreement by March 1st:

How bad would sequestration be for Virginia’s defense economy? According to George Mason University, DoD-related sequestration cuts would cost Virginia 136,191 jobs, and annually would suck almost $12billion (nearly 3percent) from Virginia’s total economy. Resulting plummeting tax revenue and an unemployment rate of nearly 9percent straining Virginia’s safety-net services would devastate the government in Richmond.

To read “Sequestration” in full, please click here.