Does Congress care about low-income Americans?
Posted by Michael McKenna on Thursday, February 24, 2011
Does Congress care about low-income Americans? Sounds like a silly thing to ask…but it’s an interesting question to consider given the cuts from the first bill to pass the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress.
First, a little background on the federal budget process. Every year in February, the President issues a budget request for the following fiscal year, which runs from October 1 through September 30. However, each chamber of Congress must approve a budget resolution, listing how much the government will spend in 19 core areas. The appropriations committees decide how much gets allocated across a whole range of priorities. After resolving differences between the House and Senate, Congress votes on the budget resolution, which does not need to be signed by the President. When Congress can’t agree, in order to prevent a shutdown of the federal government, they pass a Continuing Resolution, which usually means that Congress passes legislation to keep programs funded at the same levels as the previous fiscal year.
So back to the House bill and why it’s bad news for the poor. H.R. 1 is also a continuing resolution, designed to take the government through September, but this time it cut, cut, cut from many programs at levels significantly below 2010 levels and the President’s 2011 request. Members of the appropriations committees have repeatedly stated that the cuts, totaling $61 billion, are in keeping with voters’ demands and are a down payment on reducing the deficit. At first glance, these are both worthy purposes. But let’s take a look at which programs – and ultimately people - are bearing the brunt of these cuts.
As you saw in Billy Shore’s recent post, the President’s FY 2012 budget treats nutrition programs quite favorably. That cannot be said of the proposed cuts in the House. $782 million is being cut from domestic food programs, principally from the WIC program! If you’re asking yourself, "Aren’t Americans using nutrition programs at record high levels because of the slow economic recovery?", your instinct is right on. And WIC’s success in improving health and nutrition outcomes for infants and children has been demonstrated in study after study. [Note: School Breakfast/School Lunch/Summer meals and the SNAP benefits program are entitlements i.e. non-discretionary and therefore are not affected directly by these cuts].
Although it accounted for a relatively small amount, $5 million, Hunger-Free Community Grants were zeroed out completely! These innovative grants from the USDA help communities develop or strengthen food policy councils to fight hunger and improve access. Our partners in Maryland, including the Governor’s Office for Children, MD Hunger Solutions, and several other partners, were fortunate to recently win a very large grant from the 2010 Hunger-Free Community Grant pool. Kids in other states that could have benefited from this resource won’t be so lucky in 2011.
Low-income families will also be hurt by significant cuts to housing assistance, community health centers, job training programs, and the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). To give you a sense of relative priorities, the original proposal from the Appropriations Defense Subcommitee included a whopping total "savings" of $0.00. Doesn’t seem quite fair does it?
So concerned citizens should be prepared to do two things. First, tell your friends what programs are actually affected by these cuts. You can find a good list here from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3405).
Second, tell your elected officials that these programs are proven to help low-income children and therefore should be protected. The continuing resolution should maintain spending levels for programs that benefit low-income Americans. Your representative is at home in your district this week so call or visit a district office. You can also reach your member’s DC office by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and asking for your Senator or Representative.
Photo credit: Jill Foster
February 24, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: budget, government, state partnerships
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