Thursday, May 10, 2018

US Welfare Cuts


The Trump Budget’s Massive Cuts to State and Local Services and Programs, by Iris J. Lav, 6/13/17, cbpp.org
President Trump’s 2018 budget would deeply cut federal funding for programs and services states and localities deliver.  In 2027 alone, the cut would reach as much as $453 billion — 37 percent of state budgets at that time.  The cuts would begin in 2018, when states and localities would need to come up with an additional $44 billion — equivalent to more than 5 percent of state general fund budgets — to maintain the programs the federal government is shedding.  (See Table 1.) 

More than half the states already have been struggling to close gaps between ongoing costs and revenues in their own budgets; most states could not replace that lost funding without raising taxes significantly.  Instead, they’d very likely cut many key investments and public services.

The budget would deeply cut four entitlement programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), Medicaid, the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).  In 2027, the entitlement cuts would equal as much as $346 billion.

The budget would eliminate several annually appropriated grants, including support for after-school programs and improvements in school instruction, the Community Services Block Grant, the Community Development Block Grant, home heating assistance to low-income households, and housing programs including HOME and Choice Neighborhoods.   In 2027, the cuts in these discretionary grants would total about $82 billion.

The Trump budget would cut programs that directly assist low- and moderate-income families with children, people with disabilities, and seniors, as well as programs that improve the communities in which low- and moderate-income people live.  Rather than giving low-income people supports to help them become self-sufficient, such as job training, child care, adequate nutrition, and health care, this budget would simply drive people deeper into poverty.

Georgia was budgeted in 2018 to receive the following federal grants: $321.8 million in federal grants for learning centers, instruction, community service, energy assistance, social services, community development and investment partnerships. $201.2 million for adult, youth and dislocated workers. These grants are subject to further reduction from 2018 to 2027. See full article and tables at:


Comments

States will need to determine what to do with these programs between now and 2027. These welfare programs are clearly not a federal government responsibility and they need to be shifted back to families.

CBPP.org is a Socialist website but I posted this anyway. The facts seem feasible, but good judgment is missing and their conclusions are wrong.

This spending cut plan is consistent with what I observe of Trump’s other policy reforms. This program begins immediately and cuts are gradual.

This is good news you need to know and the Republican establishment is too lame to showcase their budget cuts.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader


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