The Santa Clarita City Council approved a recommendation from its Legislative Committee on Tuesday night to send letters to California two senators urging them to find a way to halt scheduled federal budget cuts.

The across-the-board federal budget cuts are scheduled to take effect on Jan. 2 — unless an alternative spending plan is agreed to in Congress.

If the “sequestration” cuts do occur, city officials estimate, Santa Clarita Valley could lose an estimated 4,000 jobs, and statewide job losses could number 125,000.