From Stella Maris:
This is Rep. Nita Lowey’s February 12, 2018 press release, slightly rearranged, detailing the effects of Trump’s budget request on New York families:
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester), Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, today detailed the devastating consequences President Trump’s 2019 budget request would have on the economic growth, wellbeing, and safety of hardworking families in the Lower Hudson Valley.
“The president has the power to propose a budget, but Congress has the power to dispose of that request—and this request, just like his last one, is dead on arrival,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “Nonetheless, this proposal is a troubling statement of the president’s disdain for the physical and financial security of middle-class New York families. From cuts to health and education to infrastructure and homeland security, the president’s request guts programs and support services on which hardworking families rely. As Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, I am committed to negotiating a responsible, bipartisan spending package that invests in American families and communities.”
Here’s a snapshot of the detrimental proposals in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal:
EDUCATION:
Makes it harder for students to afford and complete a higher education.
- Eliminates GEAR UP investments that help 6,000 low-income and at-risk New Yorkers have the support services to reach a higher education.
- Makes college more expensive by eliminating in-school interest subsidies, eliminating Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and eliminating the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants program, which helped 844 students at Rockland and Westchester Community Colleges obtain $398,391 in the 2015-2016 school year.
- Does not provide an annual increase for Pell Grants, diminishing the value of a Pell Grant and increasing the burden on student debt.
- Undermines our commitment to public education.
- Puts an additional burden on local taxpayers by not increasing federal funding for K-12 education or for IDEA special education.
- Eliminates afterschool activities for 89,354 New York students.
HEALTH & WELFARE:
Turns America’s back on vulnerable New Yorkers, including seniors and low-income families.
- Eliminates the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provided $366.7 million to help more than 1 million vulnerable New York households—including seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families—afford heating and cooling.
- Cuts Medicare by $554 billion, and increases out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs for some seniors.
- Cuts $214 billion in food and nutrition assistance for low-income families and seniors.
- Eliminates the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which funds a wide range of unique community development needs such as affordable housing, infrastructure investments, and economic development. In 2016, New York State received nearly $300 million in CDBG grants, of which $824,518 went to White Plains and $2,197,424 went to Rockland County.
- Cuts the Legal Services Corporation, which was created to ensure that all Americans have access to a lawyer for civil legal issues regardless of their ability to pay. New York has seven LSCs including Legal Services of the Hudson Valley in White Plains, which received $1,752,426 in FY16 and served 15,910 people in 2015, including more than 6,000 children.
HEALTHCARE:
Pursues destructive health care policies.
- Cuts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by approximately 10%, including a cut to Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, at a time when 4,000 Americans are dying from the flu every week.
- Eliminates $451 million in health professional training programs while the nation faces a nursing shortage and an opioid epidemic.
- Cuts $2 billion from EPA budget, threatening programs that keep our air and water clean.
SECURITY:
- Jeopardizes homeland security by gutting programs that protect against terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
- Cuts $118 million from the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP), including roughly $19 million from New York State, endangering state and local planning, organizing, equipment, and training to prevent and protect our communities against acts of terrorism.
- Cuts the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) by $156 million, with more than $44 million in cuts for the New York metro area, which could jeopardize critical homeland security and counter terrorism funding and put a greater burden on New York taxpayers.
- Includes $18 billion over 18 months for the president’s boondoggle border wall that will not adequately protect our nation’s borders. [Note from Stella Maris: I don’t understand this one. Protect us from what?? Neither Mexico nor Canada is about to attack us. Maybe we should contact Nita and ask her why she said this.]
- Cuts the Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program (RiskMAP) by $78 million, undermining an essential program used to identify flood hazards, assess flood risk, and partner with states and communities to provide accurate flood hazard and risk data.
INFRASTRUCTURE:
Undermines economic growth and job creation.
- Cuts $251 million from the Economic Development Administration, which provides federal grants to communities to support locally-developed economic plans.
- Eliminates TIGER grants, making it more difficult to fund major local infrastructure programs. TIGER has helped fund critical infrastructure projects in the Lower Hudson Valley region.
SAFETY:
Puts the health, safety, and well-being of New Yorkers at risk.
Cuts $65 million for safety and operations at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), despite a number of recent fatal train accidents.
Slashes $621 million in National Network grants from the FRA, jeopardizing safety improvements of passenger and freight rail infrastructure.
ENERGY:
Eliminates investments in energy research.
Eliminates funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which supports cutting-edge energy research that stands to benefit the U.S. economy.
CONTACT INFO:
Washington, DC Office
2365 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6506
Fax: (202) 225-0546
White Plains District Office
222 Mamaroneck Ave., #312
White Plains, NY 10605
Phone: (914) 428-1707
Fax: (914) 328-1505
New City District Office
67 North Main Street, #101
New City, NY 10956
Phone: (845) 639-3485
Fax: (845) 634-4079