As the federal sequestration deadline looms at midnight tonight, Governing Magazine has issued an article putting local government issues into focus. From their coverage:

But Governing’s Ryan Holeywell reported last week that governors are still fearful of the impact to other key programs like Head Start; the Women, Infants and Children program, which provides nutritional assistance to poor families; the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps the poor pay for heating and cooling; programs that address substance abuse prevention; and various workforce and vocational training efforts.

In fact, states and municipalities may already be fairly well prepared to handle the effects of sequestration, thanks to cutbacks and other austerity measures they’ve already made in response to a weaker revenue environment. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said in a report Thursday that sequestration “may have only minor negative credit consequences for state and local governments and their affiliated entities.”

Read the full article from Governing here.

See also For Governing‘s prior coverage of “fiscal cliff” effects on state and local budgets.