Hoyer: Bush 2009 Budget Woefully Inadequate on Maryland's Priorities

Press Release

In response to President Bush's FY 2009 budget proposal released today, Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) praised the inclusion of some important local projects, but expressed his overall disappointment at the budget's failure to fully address the needs of Maryland's families.

Rep. Hoyer offered this analysis of positive projects for Maryland's 5th Congressional District:

"I am pleased that the President's budget includes $13.93 million for sewage treatment plant upgrades at Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center," said Hoyer. "This funding is intended to greatly reduce the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the treated effluent and will have a significant positive impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay."

Hoyer also applauded the President's request for $78.5 million for the FDA White Oak Consolidation project, but also expressed his concern "that appropriate funding be allocated in order to complete the project on time and on budget."

The President's budget also includes funding for the Goddard Space Flight Center that is approximately equal to last year's level. Among many projects, the budget will support critical Goddard missions, including a servicing mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, the continuation of the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Throughout his career, Hoyer has been fully committed to preserving Goddard, which is significant both as a national research facility and as a regional employer. "I am pleased that the President's budget proposes funding for the continuation of these Goddard priorities. However, given Goddard's role as a premier NASA facility, it is critical that funding levels provide the necessary resources to ensure mission successes and enable Goddard scientists and researchers to continue their groundbreaking work to increase our understanding of the planets and the world we live in."

The budget also includes $4.5 million for the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Anne Arundel County, $3.5 million of which is dedicated for the Mathias Lab renovation project.

Despite having some good features, Hoyer said the President's overall budget proposal is largely disconnected from the needs of middle-class Marylanders.

"While I am certainly pleased with the inclusion of some initiatives in the President's budget proposal that will benefit the 5th Congressional District and the State of Maryland, on the whole, the budget reflects the wrong set of priorities.

"The President's misguided budget makes drastic cuts to the programs our State relies on - the cumulative effect of which threatens our standard of living and quality of life," stated Hoyer. "It is significantly shy on investments for the Bay, guts resources for local first responders, and shrinks funding in housing and highway initiatives.

"And at a time of rising costs and a sluggish economy, the President cuts health care for seniors and working families, reduces investments in worker assistance and training, and slashes energy assistance for low-income families. Finally, it fails to rein in our growing federal deficits while protecting tax cuts for those making millions."

Hoyer continued, "President Bush's budget proposal is the wrong prescription for Maryland and for America. While this budget is not something that I can support, I will make every effort to work in a bipartisan way to craft a more fiscally responsible budget that more accurately reflects the priorities of our citizens in a struggling economy."

Hoyer was also disappointed with the proposed decreases in funding at the National Agriculture Library and the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center (BARC). The Administration cuts the National Agricultural Library's budget by $4 million. BARC will see a net decrease of $5.125 million - a number that would result in the loss of 13 scientists and 34 employees, in addition to the elimination of 10 vacant positions. Most disturbingly, the budget proposes to close BARC's Animal Biosciences and Biotechnology Laboratory - the national leader in research on transgenic livestock and a key researcher in the area of the long-term storage of animal germplasm.

"The President's proposed decreases at the National Agriculture Library and at BARC do not reflect a full appreciation for the important and innovative research undertaken at these two facilities," said Hoyer. "I am committed to fighting these ill-conceived cuts which will significantly impact our farm economy and the safety and nutritional value of our food."

Hoyer offered more specifics below on the impact of the President's budget on Maryland residents.

CHESAPEAKE BAY

Hoyer said the Administration's proposal continues to short-change measures aimed at improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

The President's budget funds the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program Office at $29.01 million - $8 million of which is for competitive grants for non-point pollution solutions. The remaining $21.01 million is for the basic operations for the program - roughly the same as in past years, but not enough to maintain comprehensive clean-up efforts.

Hoyer also decried budget proposals to slash additional programs crucial to cleaning up the Bay, specifically a 21 percent cut to the Clean Water State Revolving Program. Under the President's proposed budget, MD would receive about $13 million (as recently as FY04 Maryland was receiving $32 million).

In addition, the President proposed the total elimination of funding for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training Program (B-WET), the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Restoration and Protection Program, and on-going Corps of Engineers Bay studies.

"Under the President's budget, funding for the Bay is an afterthought at best," stated Hoyer. "Federal funding is a key piece of the restoration partnership. As always, fighting for these funds will be a top Congressional priority for the Maryland delegation."

EDUCATION

The President proposes a freeze on all education funding and eliminates 47 education programs, including many critical to Maryland. Eliminated programs include the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, the Perkins Loan program, Even Start, and Educational Technology State Grants.

Hoyer applauded the President's increase for the American Competitiveness Initiative. This $175 million in new spending would put $95 million into math education programs, and $70 million for Advanced Placement courses in high-poverty high schools.

Hoyer was also pleased to see a $2.7 billion increase in Pell Grant funding, resulting from last year's passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The funding will support a maximum Pell Grant of $4800 in 2009 and allow the maximum grant to rise to $5400 by 2012.

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

Hoyer, a long-time champion of fair federal employee pay and pay parity, criticized the President's budget for rejecting a fair and equal pay adjustment for all federal employees by proposing a 3.4 percent increase for military workers and a 2.9 percent increase for federal civilian workers.

"It is indefensible that the administration would propose a sharply lower adjustment for Federal civilian workers than for uniformed personnel serving in non-combat conditions," stated Hoyer. "The proposed 2.9 percent is simply insufficient to ensure that civilian employees receive a fair base increase in 2009 as well as additional adjustments - where necessary - to reflect their employment in expensive regions of the United States."

Last week, Rep. Hoyer organized a bipartisan letter to President Bush, signed by nine other Washington-area Representatives, urging equal pay adjustments for the civil service and the military in his 2009 budget.

Hoyer continued, "Federal civilian employees work side-by-side with members of the armed services to protect our nation and keep our government operating as one of the best in the world. The President's budget, with varying pay adjustments for civilian workers and military personnel, is an affront to the long-standing and bipartisan-supported principle of pay parity that recognizes the equally valuable contributions of all federal employees make. This is unacceptable and will not stand."

HEALTHCARE

Targeting health care for seniors and low-income families, the President's budget proposes reductions of $182 billion to Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years. This is in addition to a 3 percent (or $2 billion) cut in the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, including cuts to public health improvement projects, rural health care initiatives, and medical education grants for children's hospitals.

The National Institutes of Health, which funds health research grants, would see its budget frozen at $29.5 billion, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget faces a 7 percent cut (or $433 million).

While the President's budget included a $19 billion increase over five years for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the funding falls short of fulfilling the President's 2004 campaign promise to ensure all eligible children as well as Congressional efforts this year to insure 10 million children. There are 137,000 uninsured children in Maryland who are eligible but not enrolled in Maryland CHIP.

"At a time when our economy is slowing, the President's budget plan will only exacerbate the problem by cutting billions in health care resources from those that need it most," stated Hoyer.

LAW ENFORCEMENT & HOMELAND SECURITY

President Bush's budget again proposes eliminating funding for the SAFER Grant Program, which helps departments hire new firefighters, recruit and retain volunteer fire fighters, and provide relief to the thousands of local fire stations across the country that are currently operating short of staff. Furthermore, it proposes to cut by nearly half the Assistance for Firefighters Program. Since 2001, AFG has provided more than $43.3 million in assistance to first-responder organizations in Maryland for the purchase of personnel protective gear and response equipment and vehicles.

Furthermore, the budget again guts funding for programs that assist our local law enforcement agencies by eliminating two of Maryland's local crime fighting tools - the Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) program and Justice Assistance Grants (JAG).

"Year after year, the President cuts law enforcement and local responders. At a time when these personnel are critical to public safety and homeland security, it doesn't make sense to cut back on these valuable resources," Hoyer said.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Hoyer expressed his disappointment that the President's budget fails once again to reign in historic deficits and debts, and instead relies on accounting gimmicks and unrealistic forecasting to claim a balanced budget by 2012. Currently, every Marylander's share of the national debt is more $30,000.

"President Bush's final budget is simply a continuation of failed policies that have created dangerous deficits and debt, while at the same time decreasing critical investments in our nation's future," stated Hoyer. "In seven years, President Bush turned a $5.6 trillion projected surplus into a $2.4 trillion deficit, added $3.5 trillion to the national debt, and oversaw a decline in our government's capabilities as evidenced by the response to Hurricane Katrina and the treatment of our veterans at Walter Reed.

"We will also continue to reject the President's reckless fiscal policies that are hindering our ability to meet the challenges of today, including the sluggish economy. The President's proposals for ferreting out wasteful spending are dwarfed by the more than $700 billion that would be added to the deficit over the next five years from extending his tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthiest Americans."

"Despite my deep concerns with the President's budget, I am hopeful that we can build on our success with a bipartisan economic stimulus and find areas of agreement. Democrats will continue to reach out to the President and Republicans in Congress for effective ways to invest in America's future and reduce our nation's debt."

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