Baltimore mayor calls emergency cabinet meeting on budget

BALTIMORE - Congress has failed to avoid automatic budget cuts and a series of forced spending cuts are now in effect.

Monday Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called an emergency cabinet meeting.

During the meeting the mayor will discussed the impact of federal budget cuts caused by the sequestration that went into effect on Friday.

Baltimore was already facing a $750 million deficit over the next decade.

A report by a consulting firm showed that changes are needed to prevent Baltimore from going bankrupt.

Rawlings-Blake proposed budget cuts including a call to end pensions for newly hired civilian employees-- new hires would be shifted to a 401k style retirement plan.

She also called for cutting the city workforce by at least 10 percent over eight years.

As far as cuts for the state, Maryland will lose approximately $14.4 million in funding for primary and secondary education putting around 200 teacher and aide jobs at risk.

Head Start and early head start services would be eliminated for nearly 800 children in Maryland. And nearly 46,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed reducing gross pay around $353.7 million.

Check back with ABC2 News as we continue to develop this story.