UPDATE: The cloture vote on state Medicaid and teacher funding passed 61-38. The final vote on this will be later this week, possibly as soon as today.

Remember back in May and June of this year, when Republicans in Congress forced a filibuster of the jobs package? Well, today, Congress will have a chance to salvage the mess they've made. At approximately 10:30am ET, the Senate is scheduled to hold another vote on FMAP funding for our states. This funding is critically important, and assists states in creating jobs and maintaining vital services.

Our kids and those most vulnerable among us are taking the brunt of these cuts. A few examples are below:

• Maryland has cut funding for services to abused and neglected children.
• Illinois has reduced funding for child welfare, mental health, youth services, and other programs.
• In Connecticut, the governor has ordered budget cuts to programs that help prevent child abuse and provide legal services for foster children.
• In Maine, homeless shelters have had to scale back services after cuts ordered by the governor.
• The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice has lost almost one-fourth of its state funding, resulting in over 260 layoffs and the closing of five group homes, two dormitories, and 25 after-school programs.
• Colorado has reduced public school spending by $260 million, nearly 5 percent less than the previous year. The cut amounts to more than $400 per student.
• Tennessee has reduced community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities and cut nursing services for some adults with serious disabilities.
• Other states that have capped or reduced funding for programs that serve people who have disabilities or are elderly include California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Utah.

* From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

The New York Times' Steve Greenhouse reports today that, in addition to furloughs and service cuts, states have taken to slashing wages for critical public workers - cutting pay for police officers, teachers and more. When you take into account that local and state workers already make 11-12% less than their private sector counter parts, these pay cuts will likely have a disastrous effect on public services. Already this year, at least 45 states have made deep cuts to vital services.

Pay cuts are appearing most frequently among state and local governments, which are under extraordinary budget pressures and have often already tried furloughs, i.e., docking pay in exchange for time off. Warning that they will have to lay off people otherwise, many governors and mayors are pressing public employee unions to accept a reduction in salary of a few percentage points, without getting days off in exchange.

At the University of Hawaii, professors have accepted a 6.7 percent cut. Albuquerque has trimmed pay for its 6,000 employees by 1.8 percent on average, and New York's governor, David A. Paterson, has sought a 4 percent wage rollback for most state employees. State troopers in Vermont agreed to a 3 percent cut. In California, teachers in the Capistrano and Pacheco school districts have accepted salary cuts.

According to Politico, the vote today on FMAP funding will be close. Unfortunately, for vital services in our states, it may be too late.