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Letter to Representatives opposing the House leadership's budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 376)May 11, 2006 Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I strongly urge you to oppose the House leadership's budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 376). It will force cuts in our nation's most important priorities including health care, education, child care, nutrition assistance and other programs that help moderate- and low-income families, shift costs to state and local governments, assume very costly tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, add to deficit spending, and necessitate raising the federal debt ceiling to almost $10 trillion. It is shameful and should be rejected. The House budget resolution fails to provide adequate funds for non-security discretionary spending. The plan would cut funding for domestic discretionary programs by $10.3 billion in fiscal year 2007 and $167 billion over five years, relative to the Congressional Budget Office baseline. It fails to include the DeLauro amendment that would have made available an additional $7 billion in funding for health, education and training programs, mirroring the Specter-Harkin amendment which passed the Senate on an overwhelming bipartisan vote. We agree with the 23 moderate House Republicans who signed a letter on March 15th calling for a minimum two-percent increase in non-security domestic discretionary spending, enough to level-fund these programs when adjusted for inflation. A shift of only $4.1 billion to the Labor-HHS-Education allocation falls $3 billion short of the $7.2 billion required to meet priority needs. The funding level in this budget resolution will force cuts in health care, child care, education, housing, and other vital programs. AFSCME is particularly concerned that the budget resolution will not provide the necessary resources for state and local governments. As a result, the budget resolution would unnecessarily slash funding for grants-in-aid to state and local governments that are used to address the pressing needs of our nation's children, seniors, and working adults. Any funding reductions will force states to choose between continuing to provide the important human services made possible by federal investments, cutting other state or local programs, or raising their own taxes to make up for lost federal revenues. AFSCME opposes additional cuts to mandatory spending programs. The Deficit Reduction Act dangerously reduced funding for entitlement programs that serve low- and moderate-income families, including Medicaid, child support enforcement, foster care, and student loan programs. These cuts will shift costs to state and local governments and result in hardship for millions of affected families. The budget resolution includes a reconciliation instruction for $6.8 billion more cuts to mandatory programs excluding outstanding flood insurance claims, which could include reductions to the Social Services Block Grant, unemployment insurance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or possibly Medicare, Medicaid or student loans. As a nation, we cannot afford any further reductions in mandatory programs. The budget resolution also fails to include funding — included in the President's and Senate-passed budget — that would avoid significant increases in the number of the uninsured. Both the President's budget request and the Senate-passed budget resolution continue funding for Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA), a program that helps families retain health coverage who are transitioning off Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Their budget plans also address a shortfall in funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 2007. The House budget resolution contains funding for neither. The HHS actuary estimates that 500,000 fewer children will be covered by SCHIP in 2007 if the shortfall is not addressed. And, families leaving welfare for low-wage jobs without health benefits will lose health coverage completely if funding for TMA is not continued. The ballooning deficits assumed in this budget resolution - at least $300 billion in 2007 and totaling close to $1 trillion through 2011 - cannot be laid at the doorstep of already shrinking domestic discretionary spending, nor can the necessity to raise the federal debt ceiling to nearly $10 trillion. The federal commitment to subsidize working families' child care costs, to help state and local public health departments prepare for a pandemic flu outbreak, to ensure that children with special needs receive an appropriate education, and to provide nutrition services for pregnant women and infants through the WIC program are not to blame. Fiscal irresponsibility is the culprit. Congress should address the most significant cause of our budget woes — over a trillion dollars in tax breaks that are heavily weighted towards the wealthiest Americans. The House budget resolution assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are made permanent — at a cost of $228 billion over the next five years — and this figure grossly underestimates the likely cost of the tax cuts, since it excludes additional interest costs and the cost of providing continued relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax. Just yesterday, the House adopted a tax reconciliation conference report on a largely party-line vote, 244-185, that extends $69 billion in tax cuts, including extension of the 15 percent maximum rate on capital gains and dividends income until 2010. The benefits of these tax breaks could not be more skewed towards the wealthiest: middle-income taxpayers would receive an average tax cut of $20, while those earning more than $1 million annually would save $42,766 according to an analysis by the joint Brookings-Urban Institute Tax Policy Center. The net result would be an increase in the deficit over the next five years of $254 billion. I urge you to put a brake on these unaffordable tax cuts. The federal budget reflects our nation's priorities and choices. As ordinary Americans came to understand the high stakes involved in the budget process last year, they engaged as never before in letting their senators and representatives know that they wanted a budget that would expand opportunity and security for all Americans, not sacrifice health care, education and other vital services to pay for tax breaks that favor the wealthy few. It is particularly shameful that this body is taking up a budget bill that would cut federal funding for programs that benefit millions of moderate and low-income Americans just one day after approving a staggering windfall in tax breaks for millionaires. AFSCME joins with the millions of Americans who are speaking out now and urges you to vote "NO" on the House budget resolution.
Charles M. Loveless |
Raymond Summers
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