Tell Congress to Reject the Administration's
Cuts to Human Needs & Social Services February 16, 2005
Issue
Mainly through massive tax cuts to the wealthy and increased
military spending, the Bush Administration has run a Federal
deficit in each of its four years in office. In its latest
budget request, the Administration seeks to make permanent
its tax cuts and increase military spending again. Now, the
President calls to reduce the deficit primarily by cutting
programs that meet basic human needs. The Administration's
budget proposes the elimination of 150 discretionary programs.
NASW strongly supports the maintenance of a strong safety
net for vulnerable populations and opposes these cuts to
critical human needs programs.
Background
The Administration's budget proposals are expected to receive
broad support from fiscal conservatives in Congress, but
many consumer groups and advocacy organizations are actively
opposed to deep reductions in human service programs. Below
are examples of programs cut by the President's budget.
Meeting Human Needs
Civil Rights
The Administration's budget request cuts the Department
of Justice's (DOJ) spending authority by approximately $1.1
billion. DOJ's Office of Violence Against Women, which currently
is being funded at $383 million, would be cut by $19 million.
Further, housing assistance for low income individuals, as
well as the disabled, would be cut by $118 million or almost
half, in addition to cutting housing assistance for those
living with HIV/AIDS and for Native Americans.
Medicaid
The Administration's plan for Medicaid is intended to limit
the increase in Medicaid spending over the next decade to
an average of 7.3 percent annually, compared to a projected
growth rate of 7.8 percent if cuts are not made. Families
USA estimates the net cut of $45 billion would equal the
elimination of 1.76 million children from current program
eligibility by 2010. See NASW's current Medicaid
alert on our advocacy page for more information.
Social Services Block Grant
The Administration's budget request suggests flat-funding
the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) at $1.7 billion for
the fifth year in a row. This is actually considered a cut
in funding because there has been no increase for inflation.
See NASW's information on past fights for SSBG
funding restoration on our advocacy page.
Welfare
The Bush Administration's budget maintains funding for the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant
at the current $16.5 billion level, which means another year
of less funding due to inflation. The budget also fails to
include any increased funding for childcare and proposes
to shift funding for current state bonuses into funding for “family
formation” and “marriage promotion.” See NASW's current TANF
Alert on our advocacy page for more information
Improving the Profession to Protect Social Work Clients
Child Welfare
The President once again proposes to block grant the Title
IV-E Foster Care Program—pitting funding for services against
funding for staff and training, and jeopardizing the IV-E
university-agency training partnerships. States who choose
the “Child Welfare Program Option” could receive enhanced
federal funding for the first year, but less in future years
so that it would be budget neutral over a five-year period.
See NASW's latest draft
letter on the Title IV-E training program on Congress
Web.
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program
For the fourth year in a row, the Bush Administration's
budget request attempts to eliminate the Elementary and Secondary
School Counseling Program (ESSCP). ESSCP is a three-year
grant program, so if funds are eliminated this year, the
school districts that are already receiving ESSCP funds will
not receive their second and third year of promised money.
See NASW's information on past successful fights for ESSCP
funding restoration on our advocacy page.
Health Professions
The Administration proposes cuts to Titles VII and VIII
of the health professions programs that will halt development
of a health care workforce prepared to care for the most
vulnerable populations. These programs are essential parts
of the health care safety net, supporting education and training
for health professionals who are prepared to serve rural
and underserved areas. The Administration proposes just $161
million for programs that were funded at $450 million last
year.
Loan Forgiveness
The Administration proposes to eliminate one of the few
federal loan forgiveness programs available to social workers—the
Perkins Loan Program, while proposing to make permanent increases
in loan forgiveness passed last year for teachers in math,
science, and special education. Funding for the Perkins program
would be used to help fund proposed increases in Pell Grants
for low-income students. See NASW's latest draft
letter in support of loan forgiveness for social workers
who work in child welfare on our advocacy page.
The Bush Administration's budget request started a process
that will go on for months as the Administration works within
the complex congressional budget process to secure passage
of these changes. Over the next few weeks, Congress will
question Administration officials about the budget and develop
its own spending plan called a budget resolution. The budget
resolution includes a total for discretionary spending and
targets for revenues and entitlement spending. Congress will
consider cuts and caps on domestic discretionary and entitlement
spending, including Medicaid, during this process. The budget
resolution may do this in several ways: 1) by decreasing
discretionary or entitlement spending on programs in the
budget resolution; 2) ordering congressional committees to
pass legislation called “budget reconciliation” to cut entitlements,
including Medicaid, and/or taxes; and/or 3) passing a budget
process bill that would cap all spending, cap entitlement
spending, cap discretionary spending and/or institute “pay-as-you-go” rules
for entitlement programs only. These three separate budget
bills are necessary to enact all of the budget cuts the Republican
leadership has indicated it wants.
Action Requested
All Senators and Representatives must be contacted immediately
to hear opposition to the Administration's budget cuts that
target human needs while also cutting vitally needed revenues
to support key federal programs. The Congress will be on
recess the week of February 18-27, giving constituents an
opportunity to personally lobby their representatives .
NASW is asking its members to schedule local visits with
congressional representatives during that week or attend
Members' public events to discuss federal budget priorities.
If you cannot personally visit your U.S. Representative and
Senators, please call, fax, or e-mail them to request their
support for protecting these programs from devastating budget
reductions. These contacts are essential over the next two
weeks as these Members are forming their opinions about their
constituents' views of domestic spending cuts.
A sample letter opposing the Administration's budget request
has been posted on NASW's Congress Web to e-mail or fax to
Members of Congress. Individual telephone numbers, fax numbers,
and e-mail addresses are also available through NASW's Congress
Web: www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/grassroots/congressweb.asp If
you make a phone call, please let us know via e-mail at advocacy@naswdc.org
Requesting a meeting with your Members of Congress
• Find your Congressional District and contact
information from the NASW Web site: http://63.66.87.48/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=NASW
- Send a fax or e-mail to the district office
requesting a meeting
- Include the date and time of day you would
like to meet with the Member
- Offer to meet with staff if the Member is
not available (i.e. District Director)
- Include a specific Administration proposal
you would like to discuss
- Provide a phone number and/or e-mail address
where the office can reach you
- Follow up with a phone call in a few days
if you have not heard back from the office
The district office should have a schedule of the Members'
public events (i.e. Town Hall meetings). These events often
provide a great opportunity to approach your Members of Congress
if you cannot secure a personal meeting.
Links for More Information
Members interested in background about the budget process
or in tracking the budget more carefully should check the
following web sites of some of NASW's coalition partners:
Check out NASW's Federal
Budget Page for the association's most current information
about the federal budget process.
For additional information, please contact Dina Zarrella,
senior field organizer, at dzarrella@naswc.org or
202-336-8218. |
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