Legislative News InBrief
February 5, 2007
President Bush sent his $2.9 trillion FY 2008 budget proposal to Congress on Feb. 5, setting the stage for the annual budget and appropriations process. The proposed budget would dramatically increase military spending, including an extra $245 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the proposed budget would make permanent the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 at a cost of an additional $374 billion over five years. The proposed budget would make cuts of nearly $96 billion over five years from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as cuts in domestic discretionary spending. The Administration claims that the budget will lead toward a balanced budget by 2012. However, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities released a report indicating that many significant costs were omitted and that the budget does little to improve the long-term financial situation.
This year's President's budget is compared with what is expected in the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution, which passed the House last week and is anticipated to be voted on next week in the Senate. The following analysis provides an overview of how the President's FY 2008 budget would impact people with disabilities and their families, with a focus on programs affecting the AUCD network.
President's FY 2008 Budget Request for HHS and Education
(dollars in
millions)
Program |
FY07 Final Estimated |
President's FY 2008 Request |
Difference over 2007 |
---|---|---|---|
UCEDDs |
33.2 |
33.2 |
0.0 |
DD Councils |
71.7 |
71.7 |
0.0 |
P&As |
38.7 |
38.7 |
0.0 |
Family Support/PNS |
11.4 |
11.4 |
0.0 |
Voter Access |
15.7 |
15.7 |
0.0 |
MCH Block Grant |
693.0 |
693.0 |
0.0 |
CDC Center on Birth Defects/DD |
124.5 |
124.5 |
0.0 |
NIH |
28,931.0 |
28,621.0 |
-310.0 |
NICHD |
1,265.0 |
1,265.0 |
0.0 |
CAPTA |
|
|
|
|
27.0 |
27.0 |
0.0 |
|
25.89 |
36.00 |
+10.11 |
|
42.0 |
42.0 |
0.0 |
|
1,700.0 |
1,200.0 |
-500.0 |
National Family Caregiver Support Program |
156.0 |
154.0 |
-2.0 |
IDEA Part B State Grants |
10,491.9 |
10,491.9 |
0.0 |
Part B Preschool Grants |
380.8 |
380.8 |
0.0 |
Part C Infants and Toddlers |
423.1 |
423.1 |
0.0 |
IDEA Part D |
|
|
|
|
50.7 |
0.0 |
-50.7 |
|
48.9 |
48.9 |
0.0 |
|
89.7 |
89.7 |
0.0 |
|
25.7 |
25.7 |
0.0 |
|
38.4 |
25.1 |
-13.3 |
Institute for Education Sciences |
|
|
|
|
71.8 |
71.8 |
0.0 |
|
9.6 |
9.6 |
0.0 |
NIDRR |
107 |
107 |
107 |
VR State Grants |
2,837.2 |
2,837.2 |
0.0 |
VR Supported Employment |
30.0 |
0.0 |
-30.0 |
Assistive Technology |
30.5 |
26.1 |
-4.4 |
Department of
Health and Human Services
Overall spending for the Department of Health and Human
Services would increase by $55.6 billion to $697.3 billion in FY 2008.
Discretionary budget authority would slightly increase by approximately $100
million to $67.6 billion.
Administration on Children and
Families
The President's budget provides level-funding for the
Developmental Disabilities Act programs at $171 million. University Centers for
Excellence would receive $33.2 million. DD Councils would receive $71.7 million
and the Protection and Advocacy Systems $38.7 million. Projects of National
Significance (PNS), which includes the Family Support program, would also be level-funded at $11.4
million.
NIH/NICHD
The President's budget sets funding for NIH at
approximately $28.6 billion. While there is some uncertainty about the actual
numbers due to the pending Continuing Resolution, this appears to indicate a
decrease of $310 million below the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution passed by the
House last week. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD) was level funded at $1.265 billion.
CDC
Total discretionary budget request for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is $5.8 billion, a net decrease of $20
million below the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution. CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities would remain level funded at $124.5 billion.
HRSA - Maternal and Child
Health
The FY 2008 budget requests $5.8 billion for the Health
Resources and Services Administration, a net decrease of $242 million below the
FY 2007 Continuing Resolution. The Maternal and Child Health Block Grant (MCH),
which provides funding for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and
Related Disabilities (LEND) programs, would be level-funded at $693 million.
This amount however, was cut from $724 million in FY 2005. Moreover, funding in
the President's budget request does not include any new money for the expansion
of LENDs through the recently passed Combating Autism Act.
Child Abuse
Prevention
The President's budget would hold funding for Child
Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) programs at the 2007 levels except
for discretionary grants, which was increased by approximately $10 million to
fund a new initiative concerning nursing home visitation
services.
Administration on Aging/National
Family Caregiver Support
Program
The President's budget request for the Administration on
Aging is $1.3 billion, a net decrease of $28 million from the FY2007 Continuing
Resolution. Despite a recommendation from last year's White House Conference on
Aging for increased funding of the National Family Caregiver Support Program, funding for this program was
decreased by $2 million in the President's request.
Lifespan Respite Care
Act
No funding was included in the President's budget for
the Lifespan Respite Care Act. The Lifespan Respite Coalition has created an
action alert to encourage Senators to sign the Dear Colleague Letter being
circulated by Senators Clinton and Warner asking for $289 million over 5 years
to fund the Act.
Medicaid
The President's budget
proposes legislative and administrative changes to cut Medicaid by approximately
25.7 billion over 5 years ($13.0 billion in legislative changes and $12.7
billion in administrative changes). Many of these same changes were proposed in
the President's budget last year. Proposed legislative changes include lowering
administrative reimbursement rates to 50%, linking reimbursements to
performance, lowering reimbursements for targeted case management, making
Medicaid pharmacy reforms, and setting home equity limits at $500,000 for
long-term care. Administrative changes include recovering funds diverted from
government providers and retained by the State, cutting Medicaid reimbursements
for some school services (including transportation and administrative claims),
making changes in allowable services that can be claimed as rehabilitation
services, and making changes in allowable costs for Disproportionate Share
Hospital (DSH) payments.
SCHIP
The President's Budget also proposes to reauthorize
SCHIP, with an increase of approximately $5billion over 5 years. However, many
advocates feel this amount is inadequate and the President's proposal also aims
to limit the enhanced match solely for children at or below 200% of the poverty
level. Approximately one-third of states currently cover children above this
level. This would create a disincentive to cover these children because states
would only receive the regular Medicaid match instead of an enhanced match.
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities criticized the President's budget as failing "to provide sufficient funds for the State Children's Health program simply to maintain current levels of coverage and represents a step backward from the goal of covering all low-income children." In a February 1 bipartisan letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Spratt (D-SC) and Ranking Member Paul Ryan (R-WI), 74 Representatives led by Marion Berry (D-AR) and Heather Wilson (R-NM) urged "adequate funding" for SCHIP in the 2008 budget and called reauthorization of SCHIP "one of the most important issues for children we consider in the 110th Congress."
Medicare
The President's budget
includes a set of legislative and administrative proposals to reach $75.9
billion in savings over 5 years. While many of the same changes were proposed
last year, this year more than double the amount of cuts were proposed.
Approximately $10.3 billion would be achieved through increased premiums for
high-income beneficiaries for Medicare Part B (supplemental medical insurance)
and Part D (prescription drug coverage).
Department of
Education
The President's Budget requests $56.0 billion in
discretionary appropriations for the Department of Education, the same as the
2007 level. Within Demonstration and Training Programs, a $6.8 million request
was made for continuation costs of grants awarded in previous fiscal years. This
request includes $1.4 million to continue four State grants expected to be
funded in fiscal year 2007 that will help States use promising practices in
collaborative transition planning and service delivery to improve the
postsecondary education and employment outcomes of students with disabilities. A
2005 PART assessment of this program produced a rating of "Results Not
Demonstrated."
IDEA
The President is requesting level funding for the Part B
State Grant, the Preschool Grant and the Part C Early Intervention programs and
cuts the IDEA National Activities programs by $64 million. The IDEA State Grant
request would actually decrease the per pupil federal share of funding for
students with disabilities below 17%, well below the authorized amount of 40%.
That share has dropped about 3% in the last several years. The special
education teacher preparation program is frozen at a critical time when school
systems grow desperate to hire highly qualified teachers to implement the
requirements of No Child Left Behind. A large proportion of special education
students are taught every day by unqualified teachers, let alone those who are
highly qualified.
Institute for Education
Sciences
Special Education Research as well as the studies and
evaluations within the Center for Special Education Research of the Institute
for Education Sciences (IES) were level funded
Rehabilitative Services,
Research
The President's request includes $2.837 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants. The President proposed once again to eliminate three vocational rehabilitation programs: Supported Employment State Grants, Projects with Industry, and the Migrant and Seasonal Farm workers program. The 2008 request would also again eliminate funding for Recreational programs. Funding for most other discretionary rehabilitation programs would be maintained at the 2007
level. The request includes level funding of $107 million for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology programs would receive $26.1 million in the President's Budget, approximately a $4.4 million dollar cut from FY 2006 and the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution. Last year the President proposed approximately an $8 million cut.
Clearly, AUCD and other national disability organizations will have a great deal of work to do over the coming months to both protect currently funded programs important to individuals and families living with disabilities and to restore funding to needed programs through the congressional budget and appropriations process. AUCD will be sending a letter to the House and Senate Budget Committees stating our concerns regarding the President's budget and requesting they produce a budget that will allow adequate funding in order to restore important disability-related programs. The AUCD Legislative Affairs Committee and staff will be spearheading all efforts to increase federal funding for AUCD's member programs where possible and to protect important programs like Assistive Technology and Medicaid. Updates on all of these activities will be available to you via Legislative News In Brief.