(Washington, DC) Today, the House of Representatives passed the final conference report for the FY10 budget, which Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) worked to craft in the House Budget Committee.   Congressman Yarmuth made the following statement in support of the budget.

“This budget takes the steps necessary for long-term economic recovery by investing in America’s priorities: energy independence, health care reform, and the education of our nation’s children,” Yarmuth said.  “We’re betting on the American people— our ingenuity, resolve, and resourcefulness.  And history has taught us the odds are very much in our favor.

The budget reflects President Obama’s economic plan, a blueprint for economic recovery, new jobs immediately, and sustainable economic growth and prosperity for years to come.  Among numerous provisions, the budget will:

• cut taxes for middle-income families by more than $1.7 trillion over 10 years;
• shrink the deficit by nearly two-thirds in four years;
• create a deficit-neutral reserve fund for health care reform;
• increase veterans health care and benefits by 11.7 percent;
• provide a reserve fund for a College Affordability Initiative; and
• invest in energy efficiency and clean energy to launch a sustainable era of job creation and make America a global technology leader once again.

This budget also begins to reverse a course that turned a $5.6 trillion surplus into a record deficit and saw the smallest rate of job growth in 75 years.  FY10 will begin a new era of honesty in budgeting, eliminating deceptive practices that masked the real costs of expenditure on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as emergency disaster aid. Previous budgets masked these costs to make the deficit appear smaller.

The Senate will now consider the legislation before sending it to President Obama’s desk where he is expected to sign the budget into law.