Luján Calls President Trump's Budget "Devastating' for Middle Class and Working Families in New Mexico

Statement

Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) today issued the following statement regarding the release of preview of President Donald Trump's federal budget proposal that was released today. The President's full budget proposal is expected to be presented to Congress in May:

"Last month President Trump unveiled an outline for his federal budget that dramatically cut critical federal programs like education, environmental protection, and nutrition assistance. Today, rather than sending a real budget that outlines exactly what he wants to fund, what he wants to cut and by how much, he sends another teaser document -- with some specifics, but not enough to see the whole picture. Vague promises might work for Mr. Trump on the campaign trail, but he is President now and the American people need details not doubletalk."

"What we can tell from today's "budget preview' is that many of the cuts will have a deep and devastating impact on New Mexico -- especially when it comes to education, funding to support hard pressed communities, environmental protection and health."

"The President's budget proposal would cut more than $9 billion in federal funding for the Department of Education -- a 14% reduction in education funding overall. Programs particularly impacted are before and after-school programs, as well as summer school programs. On the higher education front, the President's budget cuts funding for the Pell Grant program which provides financial support for low-income students, including more than 55,000 students attending college in New Mexico, and significantly reduces funding for federal work study programs which allow students to earn money to pay for college.

"When you look at the deep cuts in education programs designed to help middle class and working students, and you couple that with tax reductions that favor the wealthy and tax increases that hurt middle-class and working families, the President's budget priorities are not just misguided, they are unfair and hostile to young people who want to further their education and achieve the American Dream. This doesn't make America great; it just drives middle class and working families into greater and greater debt."

"The President's budget also makes significant reductions to the PILT program (Payments in Lieu of Taxes.) PILT payments are federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to non-taxable federal lands within their boundaries.PILT payments help local governments carry out vital services such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public infrastructure like schools and roads, and emergency services.

"The President's proposed cuts to environmental and public health programs are also particularly troubling. The budget abandons EPA's commitment to public health and environmental protection by cutting nearly a third -- 31 percent -- of the agency's budget and shifting the burden to cash-strapped states. It slashes grant programs, guts enforcement, and eliminates thousands of jobs that are critical to meeting the EPA's mission. The proposal also cuts hundreds of millions of dollars from the Superfund program, which would drastically delay long overdue cleanups around the nation and in New Mexico."

"The budget preview released today also walks away from our commitment to investments in clean energy and energy efficiency. It cancels the popular Energy Star program that saves consumers money and reduces energy consumption. It eliminates the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides vital assistance to low-income families to heat and cool their homes. The budget also abolishes all funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program and State Energy Program, turning our back on states that rely on this critical funding to achieve their energy and environmental goals, and to assist low-income and minority communities."

"The President's budget will have a negative impact on funding for arts and cultural programs in New Mexico as well. It shortsightedly defunds the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and by extension, may suppress other federal funding for cultural programs, educational institutions, and artistic platforms -- which are important elements of New Mexico's character and culture."

"Finally, President Trump is also proposing a $5.8 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- close to a 20 percent cut. The hiring freeze instituted by President Trump earlier this year already threatened to cripple NIH's ability to spur medical innovation, and these additional cuts will devastate NIH's biomedical research efforts by forcing our nation's premier biosciences agency to eliminate potentially lifesaving research and training activities."

"These deep cuts to NIH and other public health programs are short-sighted and unwarranted, and could harm our efforts to respond to the opioid crises facing our nation by slashing funding for programs that increase the mental health and substance abuse workforce. This cut will undermine our efforts to meet other pressing health needs, such as increasing the nursing professionals available to staff our health facilities, increasing the number of primary care doctors in rural areas and increasing the geriatrics workforce to meet the needs of our aging population."

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