On Monday, December 17, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution calling on Congress and the President to adopt a balanced budget approach to avoid the federally mandated across-the-board cuts at the beginning of 2013.

Councilmember Nick Licata sponsored the resolution that called for an approach allowing the Bush-era tax cut for the wealthiest two percent to expire at the end of 2012. In addition, the resolution calls for the federal government to uphold their commitments and prioritizes revitalization of the economy and job creation.

The resolution also mentions that the sequestration of federally-funded programs would impact funding for critical housing, public safety, homeland security, environmental, education, public health, and transportation programs that directly affect the quality of life for all Seattle residents.

The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and DESC were instrumental in bringing this resolution to the attention of Councilmember Licata. Housing Alliance State and Federal Policy Associate Ben Miksch testified to the Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture Committee the week prior to the resolution's passing. In his testimony, Ben also warned against Congress passing a hasty budget deal just for the sake of getting a deal. This could actually be even worse for our families and communities in the long run. "The most vulnerable in our communities should not have to bear the burden of paying for deficit reduction and the damage that these types of cuts would wreak on our communities."

The resolution also notes that more than 22,000 homeless people and 132,000 very-low income families would be negatively impacted, should the first $110 billion round of automatic cuts take place.

Seattle joins a growing list of other American cities who have passed similar resolutions, such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York.