AUCD Legislative News InBrief - President's FY09 Budget

February 4, 2008

President Bush released his FY 2009 Budget Request today. His five-year plan increases defense spending by 5 percent and puts some new money into favored initiatives while trying to balance the budget by 2012. To achieve a balanced budget in the face of increasing deficits (projected to reach at least $400 billion by next fiscal year) his plan proposes to cut funding for many non-defense discretionary programs and reduce entitlement spending such as Medicare and Medicaid. The President proposes, as he did last year, to terminate or reduce funding for 151 programs which amounts to cuts in over $18 billion. Meanwhile, the President's plan also proposes to make the 2001-03 tax cuts (that are not set to expire until 2011) permanent. The President budget does not take into account the amount of money it will cost to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax problem, nor does it include funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Following is a table and short analysis of how the President's budget would impact many of the programs important to the AUCD network, people with disabilities and their families.

President's FY09 Budget and FY 08 Final Appropriations for the Departments of L-HHS-ED Compared
Program	FY08 Final	President's Budget FY09	Difference
Health and Human Services
UCEDDs	36.9	36.9	0.0
DD Councils	72.5	72.5	0.0
P&As	39.0	39.0	0.0
PNS/Family Support	14.2	14.2	0.0
Help America Vote Act	17.4	17.4	0.0
Lifespan Respite Care Act	0.0	0.0	0.0
MCH Block Grant	666.0	666.0	0.0
Autism and related DD	36.4	36.4	0.0
CDC Center on Birth Defects/DD	127.3	126.7	-0.614
NIH	29,230.0	29,230.0	0.0
NICHD	1,254.7	1,255.7	+1.0
IDEA
Part B State Grants	10,947.5	11,284.5	+337.0
Part B Preschool Grants	374.1	374.1	0.0
Part C Infants and Toddlers	435.7	435.7	0.0
State Personnel development	22.6	48.0	+25.4
TA and Dissemination	48.0	48.0	0.0
Personnel Preparation	88.2	88.2	0.0
Technology and Media	39.3	30.9	-8.4
Rehabilitation and Disability Research
VR State Grants	2,874.0	2,874.0	0.0
Supported Employment	29.2	0.0	-29.2
NIDRR	105.7	105.7	0.0
Assistive Technology	29.9	25.7	-4.2
Higher Education
Demonstration in Disabilities	6.7	0.0	-6.7
Institute of Education Sciences
Research in Special Education	70.6	70.6	0.0
Special Education Studies & Evaluation	9.5	9.5	0.0

Health and Human Services

Overall, the budget would cut discretionary spending within the Department of Health and Human Services by more than $2 billion, to $74.2 billion.

Developmental Disabilities Act programs would be level funded: University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) would receive $37 million; DD Councils $72 million; Protection & Advocacy Programs $39 million; and Projects of National Significance, which includes Family Support $14 million.

Once again, the President's Budget provides zero funds for the Lifespan Respite Care Act that was signed into law last year. This program was authorized at $40 million in FY 08 but did not receive any funding. This year the program is authorized at $53 million.

The Social Services Block Grant is cut by $500 million, the same cut that was proposed in last year's budget. This program, which provides flexible funding for states for a range of social services, including respite care, has continued to be level funded by the Congress at $1.7 billion although it is authorized at $2.3 billion.

HRSA

The overall FY 09 Budget requests $5.9 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a net decrease of $992 million from FY 08.

The FY 09 Budget provides $666 million for the Maternal Child Health (MCH) Block Grant, the same amount provided in FY 08.

The Budget includes $36 million (level funding) for the new "Autism and Other Developmental Disorders" line item authorized by the Combating Autism Act. The budget briefing materials, for the first time ever, mentions support for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) and the Developmental Behavioral Pediatric (DBP) training programs adding that the "LEND and DBP programs provide interdisciplinary training to enhance the clinical expertise and leadership skills of professionals dedicated to caring for children." The Combating Autism Act authorizes $42 million for FY09.

NIH

For the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the budget requests $29.230 billion in discretionary budget authority through the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations, equal to the FY 2008 appropriation. For NICHD, the budget provides $1.3 billion, a $1 million increase, according the budget documents.

The budget also assumes $78 million though the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee for the transfer from the Superfund to the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), $150 million in mandatory appropriations for type I diabetes, and $8 million in evaluation funds for the National Library of Medicine (NLM), for a program level of $29.465 billion, the same as in FY 2008. In addition, NIH will provide $300 million to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is an increase of $5 million over the FY 2008 transfer.

Centers for Disease Control

The budget proposes cutting CDC's overall budget by more than $430 million, including the elimination of a $301 million program that trains 4,700 pediatricians and pediatric specialists at children's teaching hospitals. Every program under CDC's Health Promotion is cut, including the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, which is cut by $614,000 to $126,752 million.

Medicare and Medicaid

The budget proposes cuts to Medicare that total $12.8 billion in FY 09 and $182 billion over five years. Cuts to Medicaid total $2 billion in FY 09 (with $17.4 billion over five years in reductions from legislative changes and another $800 million from regulatory changes). These "savings" would primarily be achieved not by lowering health care costs, but rather by shifting costs to the states.

The budget includes what it describes as a $19.7 billion increase in funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This would not, however, allow states to cover more uninsured children, millions of whom are eligible for SCHIP and Medicaid but unenrolled. States need an increase of approximately $24 billion over the next five years simply to maintain their current programs.

Education

For the IDEA Part B Grants to States, the Administration's budget is requesting $11.3 billion, an increase of $337 million. The Ed Department briefing materials asserts that this amount will maintain the Federal contribution toward meeting the excess cost of special education at about 17 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure (APPE), and provide an estimated average of $1,658 per student for about 6.8 million children ages 3 through 21.

Funding for the Part B Preschool and Part C Infants and Toddlers programs would be continued at their 2008 levels.

Most IDEA Part D programs are level funded except for the Technology and Media program, which is cut by $8.4 million ("to eliminate funding for previously earmarked projects") and the State Personnel Development Program, which is increased by $25.4 million. The State Personnel Development provides competitive grants to help States enhance their systems for personnel preparation and professional development in the areas of early intervention, educational, and transition services. The President's Budget states that the FY08 appropriation "does not include sufficient funds to cover the 2008 continuation awards or provide new funding for the 6 States with projects expiring on September 30, 2008. The $25.4 million increase proposed for 2009 would pay the full cost of continuation awards to 41 States and new awards to 5 States aimed at improving results for children through the delivery of high quality instruction and the recruitment and retention of highly qualified personnel."

The President's budget once again zeroes out the $7 million Higher Education Demonstration in Disabilities program. Fortunately, the Congress has continued to see the value in this program that assists postsecondary institutions in making their programs accessible to students with disabilities.

Rehabilitation, AT, and Disability Research

The budget request includes $2.9 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants to help individuals with disabilities obtain or maintain employment. Consistent with the President's seven previous requests, the FY 09 budget does not fund Supported Employment State Grants, Projects with Industry, or the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers program. The President would also eliminate funding for Recreational programs.

The FY 09 budget would provide $25.7 million for the Assistive Technology (AT) State grant program and National Activities, a $4.2 million cut from last fiscal year's level. The President zeroes out the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) for Assistive Technology program, claiming that it duplicates services available through other P&A programs. The request includes $105.7 million for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Program, the same level provided in FY 08.

Next Steps

The President's request is only the first step in the budget and appropriations process. The next step is for the Congress to develop an overall budget resolution. Once the overall budget figures are agreed upon, then the individual appropriations committees (usually over the summer and fall) can begin working on deciding how individual programs will be funded. Many of the cuts proposed by the President will likely be rejected. However, with the Democrats continuing to hold such a slim majority, it will once again be difficult to come to agreement on many spending priorities. Most budget experts agree that it will be another long and contentious budget and appropriations process. AUCD will continue to advocate for the highest possible funding for programs important to people with disabilities and families.