THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

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|                      HOUSE BUDGET ALLOCATIONS                        |
|                   DRAMATICALLY CUT KEY PRIORITIES                    |
|                            May 28, 1999                              |
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The House Appropriations Committee has issued its 302(b) allocations - the annual allocations to the 13 subcommittees. After factoring in commitments made in the House budget for defense, NIH, Census, mass transit, and highway construction, and freezing key priorities of special education and VA medical care at 1999 levels - the remaining programs would have to be slashed. If we assume across-the-board cuts in remaining programs, the allocations under the House budget could mean cuts from FY 1999 levels, such as the following:

Education and Training

• The Reading Excellence program which helps children learn to read by the 3rd grade could be cut $47 million, from the $260 million FY 1999 enacted level, and could serve 93,000 fewer students.
• The 21st Century Community Learning Centers could be cut by $36 million from the $200 million FY 1999 enacted level, denying after school and summer school programs to more than 85,000 students.
• Over 100,000 summer jobs and training opportunities could be eliminated for low-income young people.
• Between 50,000-85,000 low income children could lose access to Head Start compared to FY 1999 level, a reduction of almost 100,000 low income children from the level proposed for FY 2000, making it impossible to reach the goal of serving one million children by 2002.

Environment and Health

• Cuts to Health Resources and Services Administration's health services for women and children, uninsured people and people with AIDS could mean as many as 5.3 million fewer people receiving needed health care services from FY 1999 enacted level and a cut of 6.2 million people served from the FY 2000 request.
• Funding could be eliminated for the clean-up of 15 Superfund toxic waste sites below the FY 1999 level -- needlessly jeopardizing public health for citizens living near affected sites and making it more difficult to meet the 900-site cleanup goal in 2002.

Crime, Housing, and Other Priorities

• Rental assistance under the Home Block Grant Program could be cut by $144 million and deny tenant-based assistance to over 2,100 families compared to FY 1999. Further, funds could be lost for new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of about 15,000 affordable housing units.
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) could be cut over $300 million from the FY 1999 enacted (outside the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund) level of $2.8 billion, a reduction of over 2,700 FBI agents below the FY 1999 enacted level. The FY 2000 request level could be cut by over $600 million and over 5,000 agents.
• The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) would be cut $144 million from the FY 1999 enacted level (outside the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund) of $1.2 billion for border enforcement. This cut could result in a reduction of approximately 1,300 Border Patrol agents. From the FY 2000 request, this would be a cut of $378 million and 3,500 agents.
• The National Park Service operating budget could be cut by $240 million below FY 1999. Most seasonal workers could not be hired, resulting in widespread cutbacks in visitor services, seasonal programs, and hours of operations at 378 park units serving almost 300 million visitors annually.

If we assume they are not going to be able to keep their priorities, the effect of across-the-board cuts could reduce the NIH budget by $1.9 billion. And the 7 percent across-the-board cut to the Veterans Affairs/HUD appropriations bill could seriously hinder the delivery of vital medical care to hundreds of thousands of our Nation's veterans.

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|                      House 302(b) Allocations                        |
|                 Shortchange Education and Training                   |
|                            May 28, 1999                              |
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Overall the House 302(b) allocation to the Labor/HHS Subcommittee would require a 18 percent cut from FY 1999 and 21 percent reduction from the President's request in 2000 for many discretionary programs. Assuming across the board cuts to Labor/HSS subcommittee, this would have a devastating impact on critical education, training, and other programs for children:

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers, funded at $200 million in FY 1999, could be cut by $36 million, denying after school and summer school programs to more than 85,000 students.
• The Reading Excellence program which helps children learn to read by the 3rd grade could be cut $47 million, from the $260 million FY 1999 enacted level, and could serve 93,000 fewer students.
• Head Start funding could be $840 million less than FY 1999 levels. A reduction of this magnitude could cut services by between 50,000 and 85,000 low income children below the FY 1999 level, a reduction of almost 100,000 low income children from the level proposed for FY 2000, making it practically impossible to reach the goal of serving one million children in Head Start by 2002.
• Work Study could be cut by $157 million from the FY 1999 level of $870 million, to the lowest level since FY 1996. The number of students served would decrease by approximately 172,000 below the FY 1999 level and the funding would not support the President's goal of serving 1 million work study students by 2000.
• GEAR-UP could be reduced by $22 million, from $120 million in FY 1999 denying 21,000 young people services to help them prepare for and succeed in college.
• Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities funding could be reduced by nearly $102 million from the $566 million FY 1999 enacted level, reducing funds for drug and violence prevention that benefits children in 97 percent of the nation's schools. It could also eliminate funding for emergency resources and assistance, including crisis counseling and increased security, in schools experiencing violent events, such as the recent tragic shootings in Littleton, Colorado and Conyers, Georgia.
• Title I, Education for the Disadvantaged could be slashed by nearly $1.4 billion, from $7.7 billion in FY 1999, cutting up to 2.2 million disadvantaged youth from services to help them reach high standards.
• Dislocated Worker Assistance could be cut by $253 million below the FY 1999 enacted level, denying training, job search assistance, and support services to about 133,200 dislocated workers.
• Over 100,000 training and summer job opportunities for low-income youth could be eliminated.
• This reduction could terminate Jobs Corps' planned 4-center expansion and/or force Job Corps to close 11-12 other centers compared to FY 1999. This could eliminate about 8,000 residential training slots for extremely disadvantaged youth in FY 2000. In addition, this would reduce program effectiveness by postponing necessary repairs, terminating the relocation of dilapidated centers, and modernizing the vocational training programs.
• The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) would be reduced by $140 million from FY 1999 enacted level and could provide child care assistance to almost 50,000 fewer children.

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|                      House 302(b) Allocations                        |
|            Sacrificing Our Environment and Public Health             |
|                            May 28, 1999                              |
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The House 302(b) allocation slashes funding by 12 percent for priority domestic programs from their 1999 level. Assuming across-the-board cuts in affected subcommittees, VA/HUD, Labor/HHS, Agriculture, Interior, and Energy and Water, this could have devastating impacts on public health and the environment in such programs as toxic waste clean-up, water and public health programs, global warming prevention, and national parks:

• Stopping 15 Toxic Waste Cleanups - EPA's Superfund program could be cut by $135 million from FY 1999 enacted levels. This could eliminate funding for 15 new federally-led cleanups due to begin during FY 2000, needlessly jeopardizing public health for citizens living near affected sites and making it more difficult to meet the 900-site cleanup goal in 2002.
• Shutting Down National Parks - Cuts to the National Park Service could reduce services and hours of operation at 378 parks and other facilities serving almost 300 million visitors a year. The $240 million below FY 1999 enacted level could shut smaller parks and back-country areas in larger parks, and jeopardize visitor safety by preventing vital maintenance and repairs.
• Squandering Our Lands Legacy - By failing to support the President's Lands Legacy initiative, the House allocation could cripple Federal efforts to preserve natural treasures, and deny states and communities $588 million to protect farmland, coastland, urban parks and other green spaces.
• Slashing Water and Public Health Protections - The reduction to EPA operations from the FY 1999 enacted level could severely hamper implementation of the Clean Water Action Plan, which helps communities clean up the 40 percent of surveyed waters still too polluted for fishing or swimming; and could let polluters off the hook by severely limiting EPA's ability to enforce public health protections.
• Gambling with Global Warming - Cuts to the Department of Energy and EPA could gut efforts toward cleaner, more efficient energy for homes, transportation, and industry; and keep the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles from meeting its goal of new cars three times more fuel-efficient than today's models by 2004.
• Crippling Wildlife Protections - Cuts to the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Army Corps of Engineers could hamper salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest, shut down some wildlife refuges, and reduce efforts to restore endangered species.
• Raising the Risk of Deadly Wildfires - Cuts to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (19 percent below FY 1999) could close some lands to the public and reduce firefighting capabilities. A total decrease of about $160 million below FY 1999 in the wildland firefighting requests for Agriculture and Interior in FY 2000 could severely hamper their capabilities to suppress wild fires, jeopardizing lives and property throughout the West.

                          House 302(b) Allocations
                        Shortchange Law Enforcement
                                May 28, 1999

The House 302(b) allocation for Commerce, Justice, State Subcommittee could require a 12 percent cut from the FY 1999 enacted level to many discretionary programs, assuming minimum essential funding for the 2000 Decenial Census. This could have a devastating impact on critical law enforcement programs such as the Drug Enforcement Agency, INS, FBI, prisons, and drug control programs:

• The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) could be cut $100 million from the FY 1999 enacted (outside the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund) level of $835 million. This cut could result in a reduction of approximately 780 agents.
• The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) could be cut $144 million from the FY 1999 enacted level for border enforcement of $1.2 billion (outside the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund). This cut could result in a reduction of approximately 6,400 detention beds necessary to incarcerate criminal aliens and illegal border crossers, or over 1,300 Border Patrol agents.
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) could be over $300 million from the FY 1999 enacted level of $2.8 billion (outside the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund). This cut could result in a reduction of approximately 2,700 agents below the FY 1999 enacted level.
• The Federal Prisoner Detention program run by the U.S. Marshals Service could be cut by $51 million from the FY 1999 enacted level of $425 million. This cut could result in a reduction of approximately 2,450 criminal detention beds.
• Drug Control Programs. The State Department's drug control programs could be cut by $29 million compared with FY 1999 enacted levels. This could underfund the State Department programs recently authorized in the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act and could necessitate grounding operating aircraft and stop the deployment of assets newly acquired with 1999 drug supplemental funds. As a result, efforts to diminish illicit crop cultivation in Peru, Columbia, and Bolivia could suffer.

                          House 302(b) Allocations
                         Shortchange Urban America
                                May 28, 1999

The House 302(b) allocations reflect a 9 percent cut in funding from the FY 1999 enacted level to discretionary programs and would have a devastating impact on programs critical to our urban areas. Assuming across the board cuts to VA/HUD appropriations subcommittee, key programs such as rental assistance, housing vouchers, and community development efforts would be cut.

• From the FY 1999 enacted level of $1.6 billion, $144 million could be cut denying tenant-based rental assistance to over 2,100 families. Further, funds could be lost for new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of about 15,000 affordable housing units.
• It could eliminate 50,000 welfare to work housing vouchers enacted in the FY 1999 budget. The cuts could wipe out the Administration's proposal of adding 100,000 new housing vouchers, including 25,000 to help move families from welfare to work, 18,000 for the homeless, and 15,000 for extremely low-income elderly.
• The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) could be reduced by nearly $9 million from the FY 1999 enacted level of $95 million. This could result in 12 fewer community development institutions (CDFIs) receiving capital funding and 9 fewer financial institutions receiving Bank Enterprise Act grants compared with the FY 1999 enacted level.
• Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) could be cut by 9 percent or $428 million from the FY 1999 enacted level and could translate into a loss of assistance to over 35,000 homes and loss of support for over 54,000 jobs in low-income areas. The CDBG Program is one of the most popular and flexible sources of funds that mayors and governors use to improve economic opportunity and housing in low-income communities. Thousands of local neighborhood improvement efforts could be jeopardized.
• A cut of 9 percent in HUD's discretionary housing subsidy puts low-income tenants at risk of losing their housing subsidies and virtually eliminates the Administration's efforts to assist more needy families and the elderly. In addition, the Administration's successful effort to reform public housing by tearing down boarded-up units and replacing them with proper housing could be jeopardized.
• A cut of 9 percent to HUD's Brownfields funding could severely slow the efforts in cities to revitalize vacant, abandoned, or underutilized commercial and industrial sites. In turn, this could hamper efforts to create more jobs and revitalize urban areas.

302(b) ALLOCATION ASSUMPTIONS

• Total Defense spending for all subcommittees will be what the House and Senate Appropriations Committees indicated in their 302(b) allocations.
• Highways, transit, and crime (Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund) will all be funded at the level of the caps. The appropriators have no discretion to change these amounts, which appear in separate sub-caps. (The highway and transit funding is above 1999, crime is below.)
• Census will be funded at the minimum amount needed to conduct the census.
• VA medical care will be frozen at the FY 99 level. (See, e.g., statements of Rep. Chambliss in the Congressional Record of April 14, 1999, at page H1990, Rep. Stump at page H1995, and Rep. Hill at page H1988.)
• NIH will be increased by $2 billion. (See, Subcommittee Chairmen Porter and Specter's cosponsorship of the "Biomedical Revitalization Resolution of 1999," H. Res. 89 and S.Res. 19 respectively, which call for a $2 billion increase.)
• Special education will be frozen at 1999 levels.

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