More to come:
The Bush Administration’s FY 2008 budget would make its tax cuts permanent.
Between FY 2008 and FY 2017, these tax cuts will hand $739 billion to millionaires alone,
and will total $3.4 trillion in lost revenue, according to the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities. In order to pay for these tax breaks for the non-needy and to increase
funding for the military, the budget cuts vital services for the poor, near-poor, and
middle class. A budget that puts first things first would invest in these services. The
Bush budget does the opposite.
As more information becomes available, we will add analyses of additional programs.
Fewer children with health insurance: The Bush budget would take health
insurance away from children even though there were 361,000 more uninsured
children in 2005 than in 2004 – the percentage growing from 10.8 percent to 11.2
percent. The proposal would deny federal funds to states under the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for children whose families have income above
200 percent of the federal poverty line. Families USA points out that a family of
three with an income of $35,000 would exceed this limit, even though the cost of
family insurance premiums now averages about $12,000. Unsurprisingly, according
to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, close to 10 percent of
children in families with incomes between 200 percent and 300 percent of the
poverty line are uninsured.
Large Medicaid cuts likely to result in reduction or loss of health care for lowincome
people: Medicaid would be cut $13 billion over 5 years through legislative
proposals, plus another $12.7 billion in administrative actions not requiring
legislation. It is too soon to analyze the impact, but much of the savings appear to
result from shifting costs to states. Last year, Congress rejected billions in Medicaid
cuts (but did cut $27 billion over 10 years). Pressures on states, including the cuts
already enacted last year, are likely to result in reduced benefits or eligibility.
Fewer households with help for high energy costs: The budget cuts home energy
assistance about 18 percent below this year’s expected levels (a cut of nearly $400
million), even though prices for heating and cooling have risen dramatically in the
last few years. Between 2002 and the current year, the cost of heating oil has risen
more than 44 percent; natural gas is up 32 percent, and electricity has increased
more than 17 percent. In FY 2006, with an extra $1 billion in temporary funding, the
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) served only 23 percent of
eligible households. The President’s budget will dramatically reduce the numbers
served.
Fewer working families with children with child care and Head Start help:
200,000 fewer children will receive child care assistance in FY 2008 compared to the
numbers served in FY 2006. The President’s budget acknowledges that by flatfunding
child care assistance, the number of low-income children with child care
assistance will continue to shrink, with still another 100,000 denied help by 2010.
The number of low-income children receiving child care at reduced cost to their
parents has already dropped 250,000 since 2000. The President cuts this support for
working families yet again. Further, the Head Start program is funded at $6.789
billion, which does not include the additional $100 million Congress is expected to
provide for the current year, to avoid reductions in services or enrollment. Another
year at the President’s proposed level would make the reductions more severe.
Fewer low-income working families will receive Food Stamps: The Bush budget
will deny Food Stamps to about 300,000 low-income working families – a proposal
that was rightly rejected by Congress in the last two years.
Fewer low-income older Americans and young children with nutrition help: The
budget would eliminate the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which
provides special help to low-income older people as well as to some families with
children in the WIC program. In FY 2006, this program was funded at $112 million;
In FY 2005 it served an estimated 459,000 low-income elders and more than 50,000
pregnant women and young children. The Administration asserts that these seniors,
mothers, and children would qualify for aid under other programs, but many would
not be eligible, or would receive less aid despite very low incomes.
Fewer social and community services for families, senior citizens, and children:
o The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) provides a large range of services for
low-income people, including meals on wheels, child care, services for senior
citizens, family counseling, etc. After years of flat funding at $1.7 billion, the
President’s budget would cut it by $500 million, a massive cut. In FY 2006
SSBG was increased by $500 million to assist victims of the hurricanes.
Although the needs of the hurricane survivors have not been met, neither the
FY 2007 budget nor the President’s new proposal continues this funding; in
effect, the budget cuts SSBG by $1 billion below the amount available in FY
2006.
o The President’s budget eliminates the Community Services Block Grant,
which was funded at $630 million in FY 2007. CSBG supports 1,100
community action agencies, which administer energy assistance,
weatherization, Head Start, and many other services.
o The budget slashes the Community Development Block Grant from $3.8
billion to $2.6 billion.
One hand increases Pell Grants; the other eliminates two college aid programs.
The President would increase the maximum size of the Pell grant to $5,400 over 5
years; it is now $4,050 (and the FY 2007 budget is expected to raise that amount to
$4,310). The Pell Grant increase is an extremely positive development. However,
the President’s budget eliminates the Perkins loans, which are serving about 460,000
students at a cost of about $660 million. The budget also eliminates the
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs, which cost $771 million in
FY 2006. About half the cost of the Pell Grant expansion is paid for by ending the
two other college aid programs.
Less Housing for Older Americans: The Administration proposes to slash funding
for housing for low-income seniors by nearly one -quarter ($747 million this year,
down to $575 million in FY 2008). A similar proposal last year that was rejected by
Congress would have reduced the new units built for older people by 2,000.
Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Job Training: The Migrant and Seasonal
Farmworker Job Training program is slated for elimination in the President’s budget
for the sixth consecutive year. So far Congress has declined to go along, funding the
program at about $80 million in FY 2006 and FY 2007. Recent data shows that this
program, aimed at training and placing the lowest-wage workers in America, helps
increase their wages by an average of $9,000 per year.
Funding limited for job training: The Administration is attempting to revive its
Career Advancement Account proposal, providing vouchers of $3,000 a year (with a
maximum of $6,000 over two years), for community college-type training programs.
Funding would come from consolidating most of the Department of Labor training
programs for adults and youth and putting most of the funds into these vouchers.
Last year, the Center for Law and Social Policy cited evidence that the use of such
vouchers with disadvantaged adults was not effective. The limit of $3,000 was
judged inadequate last year, because it would not allow funding for counseling and
placement services. Another year necessarily makes the funding even less adequate.
http://www.chn.org/signUp.jsp
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
