An article in today’s Governing.com details how the sequester will affect state budgets. The news is not good, especially when you consider the sad shape of our state’s budget situation in general. If implemented on January 2nd, the across-the-board cuts at the federal level will likely leave the state legislature with little choice but to make additional cuts to higher education to backfill the reduction in federal funds. The sequester would affect federal dollars that typically support basic elementary and secondary education; Department of Defense activities such as equipment maintenance, construction, procurement and research and development at our state’s military installations; and social services and safety net programs. States would also be hit by more than $2.5 billion in cuts destined for the National Institutes of Health – a particularly troubling situation for the University of Washington.