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Sen. Hatch visits Utah Senate, warns of sequestration costs to Hill Air Force Base and urges fiscal restraint
Summary
U.S. Senator Hatch told the Utah State Senate that federal sequestration could cause furloughs at Hill Air Force Base and significant pay losses for civilian employees, urged fiscal restraint in Washington and described bipartisan immigration proposals; senators asked clarifying questions about local impacts.
U.S. Senator Hatch visited the Utah Senate floor and told state senators that federal sequestration could have sharp local consequences, particularly at Hill Air Force Base.
"Up to 11,100 civilian employees are gonna be furloughed... the approximate loss in pay by all fellow Utah civilian employees is gonna be around $86,300,000," Senator Hatch said, arguing that weapon-systems sustainment and maintenance work could be cut and that the base’s large civilian workforce would be affected by automatic cuts if sequestration takes effect. He urged that Congress find long-term spending restraint to avoid repeated crises.
Hatch also discussed immigration reform and a bipartisan market-based H‑1B proposal he described as the "I-squared" bill, which he said would help states with high-tech sectors retain graduates. Senators asked questions about the likelihood of sequestration and its estimated effects on state economic activity; some panelists noted that state-level fiscal exposure may be smaller than federal estimates.
Hatch framed sequestration as a possible, though politically difficult, mechanism to force spending discipline. "It's gonna be a lot worse if we don't do something about it now," he said, adding that Medicare and Medicaid pose long-term liabilities that need structural reforms.
Next steps: Senator Hatch’s remarks were a floor-level briefing and no formal state action resulted directly from the visit. Several senators indicated they would continue to monitor federal budget developments and local readiness for potential impacts at Hill Air Force Base.
