MADISON (WKOW) -- We're learning how $85 billion in federal spending cuts could impact Madison.
In the past few weeks, we've heard a variety of services and agencies could suffer from Washington's inability to come to an agreement on budget cuts.
Mayor Paul Soglin says Madison gets about $40 million in federal funding each year. Most of that money is put toward public housing, community development block grants and transit.
The mayor says there is no way the city could cover the federal housing funds for the nearly 3,000 households in Madison that gets public support for housing. Soglin says there have already been significant cuts to many programs that could be affected, like the city's transit system.
"We know what happens when we're confronted with increases in bus fares, we know what happens from the benefits of programs like Head Start," says Soglin. "This is not frivolous stuff."
Soglin says Dane County Regional Airport could see staff shortages, even though it's not on the FAA's list of air traffic control towers that could face closure. Janesville's Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport is at risk.
On Monday, President Obama met for the first time with his new cabinet, working towards a compromise. House Republicans also unveiled details of their latest proposal that would leave in place 5 percent cuts to domestic agencies but give more money to the Pentagon.
