Facing the fiscal cliff

It’s hard to watch the news lately without hearing about the “fiscal cliff” awaiting Americans early next year — more than $500 billion in automatic spending cuts, tax increases and other fiscal changes set to kick in starting in January.

These questions, coupled with the paralyzing federal budget deficit and national debt, will have a significant impact on Delawareans.

Although I’ve worked on deficit reduction consistently during my two years in the Senate, my staff and I have invested additional time and energy these last few months preparing for the immediate economic choices required by the events of the fiscal cliff. Just as we do with our legislative briefing emails, I wanted you to have access to some of the same background and analysis that I do.

We’ve put together a white paper on the fiscal cliff — a primer on the economic issues Congress and the President are now working to confront — to give you a better idea of what to expect.

Click here for your copy of the white paper and to share your opinion on the fiscal cliff.              

As it stands now, our budget deficit and national debt are simply unsustainable. A $1.3 trillion deficit and $16.3 trillion debt are unacceptable. This level of debt hurts our nation’s competitiveness, causes interest rates to rise over the long term and crowds out critical investments in our country’s future.

Congress should get a big, bipartisan deal done now to reduce our deficit and avert the very significant impact of the fiscal cliff, rather than waiting until next year.

It seems like an easy choice to simply kick the can down the road again, but the reality is that our country will need to make an array of tough decisions about our competing economic priorities over the next few months – priorities like keeping taxes low, investing in critical services, reducing our unsustainable annual deficits and stabilizing our debt.

I hope you’ll download my new white paper and share your opinion on the fiscal cliff.

There is no doubt that we can keep our nation moving forward, but we’ll have to work together to do it. Balance is the only responsible solution.

Best –
Chris Coons
U.S. Senator

Carper, Coons urge Obama to amend budget to request disaster aid for Superstorm Sandy

Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons joined 11 other Senators from states impacted by Superstorm Sandy in urging President Obama on Tuesday to amend the 2013 budget to request emergency aid for federal disaster assistance programs. The Senators thanked the President and his Administration for acting decisively and providing tremendous support during and after the storm.  The Senators also urged the President to continue such quick action to allow necessary funds to be appropriated to help victims of Sandy rebuild and recover.

“As Senators representing states impacted by Superstorm Sandy, we are writing to request that the Administration submit a budget amendment pursuant to the Budget Control Act to provide the necessary funding to robustly support vital federal programs to rebuild our communities and meet the needs of victims of Sandy and other recent disasters,” the Senators wrote. “It is critical that this budget amendment be submitted as soon as possible so critical resources can reach impacted communities by the end of the calendar year.”

The Senators were joined by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Joe Manchin III (D-W.V.), John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Click here to view the senators’ letter: http://1.usa.gov/SkCNSP

Video: Senator Coons questions Secretary Clinton on Africa at a SFRC hearing

U.S. Senator Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, attended a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on foreign affairs priorities in the FY2013 budget. During the hearing, Senator Coons questioned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was testifying.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work on foreign relations.  

Budget Analysis: Clean energy and innovation

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Coons has been leading the fight for solutions to promote clean, affordable energy technologies. His analysis of President Obama’s budget proposal included a close review of clean energy programs.

The budget request for clean energy and environmental programs is on track with last year’s request, although it includes notable increases for certain energy and advanced manufacturing programs.  The blueprint also highlights the need for Congress to extend clean energy tax incentives, something Chris strongly supports.

Clean energy programs are divided among several agencies, including:

Department of Energy Programs

• Energy efficiency and renewable energy programs receive a request for $2.3 billion, an increase of $527 million from FY12.  Notable increases include biomass R&D, wind (including offshore wind), vehicles, advanced manufacturing, and buildings programs.   
• The request triples funding for groundbreaking research in the transportation sector, which helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  The focus will be on sustainable biofuels, vehicle electrification, and manufacturing advancements.     
• The budget requests $6 billion for the HOME STAR program, an initiative at the Department of Energy designed to create jobs in existing industries by providing short-term incentives for energy efficiency improvements in residential buildings.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Energy Programs

• The budget proposes $6.1 billion in loans to rural electric cooperatives and utilities for clean-energy generation, transmission, and distribution sites in rural communities.
• The budget also proposes $19 million for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and over $200 million for the development of advanced biofuels.

Department of the Interior Energy Programs

• The budget proposal includes $86 million for permitting new renewable energy projects on federal lands and waters, with the goal of permitting 11,000 megawatts on DOI-managed areas by the end of 2013.

Energy Tax Extenders 

• The budget request supports the extension of the 1603 Treasury grant program and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind power.
• The administration also proposes spending $5 million to extend the 48c manufacturing tax credit which expired in December 2010.
• The budget includes tax credits mirrored Senator Coons’ Job Creation Through Innovation Act

• The budget seeks to eliminate $4 million in fossil fuel subsidies, mostly from oil and gas companies.

Budget Analysis: Promoting trade

In today’s global economy, it is critical for American businesses to be able to sell their goods and services to customers overseas. Senator Coons has been working to ensure Delaware businesses have access to the more than 95 percent of the world’s consumers who live outside the United States.

At his first Opportunity: Africa conference held this year in Wilmington, Senator Coons worked to connect Delawareans with some of the nation’s leading authorities on sustainable development and trade with Africa to help open new markets for Delaware businesses.  

President Obama’s budget proposal contains several important programs that can help meet that goal. For example:

• Export promotion. The budget provides an increase of $19 million, for a total of $432 million, to strengthen efforts at five international trade-related agencies to promote and enforce international trade, and meet the goals of the National Export Initiative. The funding will be divided among the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.   
• Economic Diplomacy. Included in the State Department budget is funds for economic diplomacy and export promotion with the goal of increasing the number of “market-oriented economic and commercial policy activities and accomplishments” by 15 percent by September 2013.

Budget Analysis: Protecting innovation

Senator Coons has been hard at work on the complex issue of protecting American intellectual property from theft by foreign criminals. After hearing from local businesses, both large and small, about the importance of this issue, Chris recently said “protecting American innovation is an economic imperative, and whether that innovation comes in the form of an idea, a design, or a product.”

President Obama’s budget proposal also recognizes the imperative of protecting innovation and through that, American jobs. It includes several solutions, such as: 

• Improve the Patent System and Protect Intellectual Property. The budget proposes to give the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USP­TO) full access to its fee collections and strength­en USPTO’s efforts to improve the speed and quality of patent examinations through reforms authorized by the America Invents Act. This will provide the USPTO with more than $2.9 billion in resources in 2013.
• Strengthen Enforcement. The budget supports strengthened intellectual property enforcement domestically and overseas as set out in the Intel­lectual Property Enforcement Coordinator’s Joint Strategic Plan required by Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (Pro-IP).
• Promotes Innovation by Protecting Intel­lectual Property Rights. The Administration proposes de­voting nearly $40 million to identify and defeat intellectual property criminals, an increase of $5 million over 2012. The Administration’s efforts have already resulted in shutting down 350 web­sites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works. Addi­tionally, international partnerships and joint ini­tiatives have enabled experts to train or educate in IP protection more than 2,500 foreign judges, prosecutors, investigators, and other officials from over 30 countries.

Budget Analysis: College access and completion

It was fitting that President Obama unveiled his budget at a community college, because his plan focuses heavily on ensuring the next generation of American workers have access to an affordable higher education. 

This is a top priority for Senator Coons, who said “if we are to compete and succeed in the global economy, we have to invest now in the training and education required for highly skilled, good quality jobs. If we have the right workforce, we can revitalize American manufacturing so products are made in America and manufactured in Delaware.” 

In analyzing the President’s budget request, there are a several key programs related to college access, including:

• Race to the Top: College Affordability and Completion.  The budget proposes a $1 billion investment in a new Race to the Top challenge for states to spur higher education reform that will help improve affordability, quality, productivity, and degree completion.
• First in the World Fund.  The budget proposes a new $55 million First in the World Fund that introduces an evidence-based framework to test, validate, and scale up effective strategies to improve higher education.
• Community College to Career Fund.  Co-administered by the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, this fund will help forge partnerships between community colleges and businesses to train workers for good-paying jobs in high-growth and high-demand industries, such as health care, transportation, and advanced manufacturing.

Budget Analysis: Manufacturing and competitiveness

In reviewing President Obama’s budget proposal, Senator Coons was especially interested in programs to create good-quality jobs and help Delaware and America compete and win in a global economy.

To achieve these goals, Chris has actively supported manufacturing programs, as well investments in research and development, in previous legislation.  President Obama zeroed in on some of these same solutions in his budget. Highlights include:

• Manufacturing Tax Incentives.  The budget plan includes tax incentives for manufacturers who create jobs here and doubles the deduction for advanced manufacturing.  It also ends tax deductions for shipping jobs overseas and creates a Manufacturing Communities Tax Credit to encourage investment in communities affected by job loss.

• Innovation Corps.  The Administration proposes $19 million for a new public-private “Innovation Corps” program aimed at bringing together the technological, entrepreneurial, and business know-how necessary to bring discoveries ripe for innovation out of the university lab.

• Research and Development. The budget blueprint makes the R&D tax credit permanent, an idea Senator Coons strongly supports and has introduced as legislation because of its importance to economic competitiveness. The budget proposal includes an overall number of $140.8 billion for R&D and increases the level of investment in non-defense R&D by 5 percent from the 2012 level as well as provides $2.2 billion for advanced manufacturing R&D, a 19% increase over 2012.

• International Trade Administration.  Proposed funding for this program, which promotes exports and trade enforcement, is increased by $60 million, or 14%.

Budget Analysis: Deficit reduction

President Obama’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year (FY13) hit Capitol Hill this week, hot off the presses. Senator Coons reviewed the blueprint and praised it for responsibly reducing our country’s dangerous deficits while still investing in America’s long-term competitiveness.

After digesting the budget proposal’s many charts and numbers, our team has identified a few key highlights for Delaware, starting with responsible deficit reduction.

President Obama’s budget plan would save more than $4 trillion over 10 years, stabilizing public debt at 76.5% of GDP by 2022, with deficits declining to an average of 3% of GDP per year. 

This blueprint reduces the deficit in four primary ways:

• Winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly $850 billion is saved in the Overseas Contingency Operations accounts, which primarily relates to war funding.
• Returning to Clinton-era tax levels on the wealthiest Americans.  Some $206 billion is saved by ending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for families making over $250,000 a year.
• Reforming entitlement programs. The budget includes close to $600 billion in savings on health and other mandatory spending programs.
• Staying within Congressional budget limits. The President continues the savings plan established by Congress in the Budget Control Act, passed last year, which saves over $1 trillion through caps on discretionary spending.

Video: Senator Coons calls on a continuation of middle class tax cuts

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U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) speaks on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to vote in favor on maintaining tax cuts for America's middle class.