PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Chafee's administration says it's preparing for March 1, the federal sequester deadline.
But Peter Marino, who heads the state Office and Management and Budget, declined to delve into specifics about contingency plans when the cuts to federal spending take hold.
"While we want to be prepared and have a good understanding of what could happen if no changes are made, we also need to be agile enough to respond should the federal government make other choices," he said. "Once we get a better handle on that, we'll have a better sense of what priorities we want to set and how we want to address them."
President Obama released a state-by-state analysis on Sunday estimating a potential $17 million loss in federal funds for Rhode Island in the first year of the cuts.
The Chafee administration projects the cuts may be as high as $20 million to $25 million, based on different assumptions, Marino said.
It is also projecting a loss of around $1.2 million to $1.9 million in income tax revenue.