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Rejects Bush Budget Cuts to Programs Important to Local Communities
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) today spoke to the National Community Action Foundation (NCAF), an organization made up of more than 700 participants representing Community Action Agency directors, Head Start directors, and state and local officials including members representing Maryland Community Action Agencies. Rep. Hoyer discussed the devastating cuts in the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2006 to programs that these leaders rely on to assist their communities including the Community Services Block Grant, the Community Action Agencies (CSBG), Head Start, and LIHEAP.
State and Community leaders throughout the nation are raising concerns with the proposed cuts to critical programs that support the most vulnerable in our communities. Delegate John Hurson, President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, was on Capitol Hill yesterday and testified before the House Government Reform Committee that the increasing costs shifted to the states from the federal government was very concerning to the NCSL. He cited the Bush Administration’s proposed cuts to the Medicaid program as the NCSL’s top concern.
Following are Congressman Hoyer’s remarks as prepared for delivery.
“Community Action Agencies are an integral part of America’s communities. Your strength is that you do what it takes to truly meet the needs of low-income individuals through housing assistance, healthcare, energy assistance, nutrition assistance, job training, and so many other areas of a our citizens’ lives.
“As the Community Action agencies from Maryland are aware, especially the Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Commission represented here today by Mr. Dana Jones, I have long supported this type of ‘community centered approach’ particularly in the field of education.
“In Maryland, the Community Action Agencies have worked closely with the Judy Centers, full service early childhood and family learning centers. This type of approach does not benefit just the individuals they serve, but it benefits the entire community as a whole.
“Friends, this is a critical time for you to be in Washington, DC and for your voices to be heard. I know you have a list of priorities. One issue that may not be on your list, but I believe should be, is the need for Congress and the Administration to get this nation’s fiscal house back in order.
“Four years ago, the Bush Administration inherited a projected 10-year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion. Since then, we have run record deficits of more than $400 billion a year, and Congress has been forced to increase the national debt limit three times.
“Even worse, the Administration and Congress have no real plan to rein in deficits and debt. This threatens our investments in issues important to our communities – on everything from healthcare to our national security.
“Why does this matter? Because these policies have consequences. To create room for tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans, the Administration would eliminate or severely cut more than 150 important discretionary programs, and make major cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicaid.
“Here are just a few examples: The President’s FY 2006 Budget would cut Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, from $1.88 billion to $1.80 billion; Head Start is frozen, at $6.8 billion; Afterschool care is frozen at $990 million; Job Training programs and Section 8 Housing vouchers are proposed to be consolidated and block-granted; and the President’s budget calls for a cut in Medicaid of $60 billion over 10 years.
“In some areas, the President tries to play a shell game, by moving around numbers and making it appear that he is proposing new programs. The Community Services Block grant, the anti-poverty program that funds every single Community Action agency in this room, is proposed to be consolidated with other critical programs such as the Social Services Block Grant in order to create the President’s new Strengthening America’s Communities Grant Program. But taking $5.3 billion dollars worth of current funding, and turning it into a $3.7 Billion program with a new name is no way to truly strengthen our communities!
“We know that the Community Services Block Grant works, because it is tailored to the needs of individuals on the local level. I believe it is a mistake to eliminate this effective program at a time when 4.3 million more Americans are living in poverty today than at the beginning of the decade.
“These are misplaced priorities, and they are not shared by House Democrats. We are committed to restoring fiscal discipline to our nation’s budget, reining in deficits and arresting the national debt because that is critical to serving and protecting our people – including the most vulnerable people in society.
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