Federal Budget

Yesterday, Republican Scott Brown won a special election to replace Ted Kennedy in the US Senate. Senator Kennedy had a decades long record championing the needs of children and families. Rare was the year when he didn’t score 100% in the Children’s Defense Fund scorecard. In his last year, among the few votes he was able to make, he earned a 100% in the Vote Kids scorecard.

Where does Scott Brown stand on children’s issues and the need for greater investment in their health, education, and safety? It is hard to tell. On his campaign website, he only addresses children briefly and with a lack of specifics about the types of bills he would support at the federal level:

I am passionate about improving the quality of our public schools. Accountability and high standards are paramount. I support choice through charter schools, as well as the MCAS exam as a graduation requirement. I have worked to ensure that all children have access to a quality education. I am a strong advocate for the METCO program, which provides lower income students with broader educational opportunities.

He does say he is “opposed to the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress and will vote against it”. The bill he would vote against provides substantial benefits to children and families.

He campaign against the stimulus passed early last year which provided substantial benefits to children and families.

He says he “has been a fiscal watchdog in the state legislature fighting bigger government, higher taxes and wasteful spending”. We hope that means he would not be opposed to the President’s budget where he proposed substantial increases in programs which benefit children and families. There is plenty of wasteful spending in the federal budget, but there are plenty of good children’s programs which need greater investment, not cuts.

Vote Kids congratulates incoming Senator Brown and hopes he will continue Senator Kennedy’s legacy of championing legislation to prepare every child for success in life through smart, proven federal programs which provide access to the best quality education, health care, and keeps children safe from harm. If he votes against these programs, we will be among the first to point that out.

The Brookings Institute and the Urban Institute released a fact sheet last week showing public spending on children amounts to about 2.2 percent of the gross domestic product (G.D.P.). By comparison, we spend about 5.3 percent of G.D.P. on the elderly.

Compounding this lack of investment, is the dearth of public funds invested in children under 6, the age where research shows that we get the highest returns from education spending.

Parents continue to bear most of the costs of rearing the next generation, while the elderly reap significant benefits — whether they have helped raise children or not. Children grow up to become working-age adults paying the taxes that help finance Social Security and Medicare.

Click here to read more. President Obama will release his budget next month. Vote Kids supports greater federal spending on children’s programs in the federal budget, and a national strategy to get the best possible results for what the federal government spends. This report, and many others, show that the federal government has moved in the wrong direction in recent years in how it addresses the needs of children. We have the opportunity to correct this. Come back here for more information about how the 2011 federal budget addresses the challenges facing children.

A frequent refrain on cable TV and from certain politicians in DC is that “spending is out of control” and the first thing we need to do is cut government spending.

“We’re going to restrain spending, we’re going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control.” – John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign.

However, when it comes to children, the federal government is investing less and less in them. According to Children’s Budget 2009 by First Focus, a nonpartisan child advocacy group:

• For the past five years, less than one nickel out of every new, real non-defense dollar spent by the federal government has gone to children and children’s programs.
• Children’s spending makes up less than ten percent of the entire non-defense budget.
• The overall share of federal, non-defense spending going to children’s programs has dropped by twelve percent over the past five years.
• Real discretionary spending on children has declined by one percent since 2005, while at the same time all other non-defense discretionary spending has increased by 4 percent.

Download the Book
The full version of Children’s Budget 2009 available to download as a pdf. Click here.

Request a Free Copy of Children’s Budget 2009:
If you would like a hard copy of the publication, click here.

Fact Sheets:
- Children’s Budget 2009
– Children’s Budget Act

The economy is still ravaging America’s schools as they begin again this week. In 2009, thousands of teachers and other school workers were laid off in dozens of states as a result of plunging state and local revenues. Many were hired back as part of the federal stimulus package (click here to see how your senator voted).

The stimulus helped stabilize some states, but in Arizona, California, Georgia and a dozen other states with overwhelming deficits, the federal money has failed to prevent the most extensive school layoffs in several decades.

In the hard-hit states, the shuffling of teachers out of their previous classrooms and into new ones, often in new districts or at unfamiliar grade levels — or onto unemployment — continues to disrupt instruction at thousands of schools. Experts said that seniority and dysfunctional teacher evaluation systems were forcing many districts to trim strong teachers rather than the least effective.

About half of the 160 school superintendents from 37 states surveyed by the American Association of School Administrators said that despite receiving stimulus money, they were forced to cut teachers in core subjects. Eight out of 10 said they had cut librarians, nurses, cooks and bus drivers.

Children did not create this economic mess and it won’t be solved by firing their teachers and taking away their nurses. It will take leadership in Washington to provide schools with the resources long-term to best educate children and prepare them for the 21st century global economy. Some politicians voted for this in March, others voted against it. If politicians vote against investing in children, they have an obligation to tell us what they are for.

Click here to read more about this story.

Potential Cut to 21st Century Community Learning Centers

The Afterschool Alliance has just learned that Representatives Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and John Kline (R-MN) are offering an amendment to the FY 2010 Labor, HHS, Education (LHHS) bill that would increase Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding but cut funding for other critical education programs INCLUDING THE 21st CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER PROGRAM (CCLC). The LHHS bill is being debated on the House floor TODAY. The LHHS bill currently includes a $50 million increase to 21st CCLC which is desperately needed by states, communities and families across the country.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Please contact your Representative AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to express your opposition to Amendment 23 offered by Representatives Tiahrt and Kline. Ask to speak to the Representative’s Education Appropriations staffer and tell them:

• Vote against Tiahrt/Kline amendment as it will cut 21st CCLC funding in the FY 2010 LHHS bill.
• A cut to the proposed funding for 21st CCLC would be harmful to families and children in their congressional district.
• Tell the Member not to support actions that would cut funding for one education program(s) at the expense of others!

Don’t know who your Representative is? Go to www.house.gov to identify him/her. Also you can call your Representative directly or be connected through the House Operator (202.225.3121).

Earlier this year, we wrote about the efforts of Governors to reject stimulus money meant for children in their state. South Carolina governor Mark Sanford and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin were two of the loudest voices on this effort to build up their 2012 presidential aspirations as the expense of their state’s children. Well, they seem to have failed in their effort.

First Read notes that two conservative GOP governors — South Carolina’s Mark Sanford (R) and Alaska’s Sarah Palin (R) — “appear to have suffered setbacks in their crusades against the Obama stimulus.”

After fighting it, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Sanford to request $700 million in stimulus funds (intended primarily for the states struggling schools), and Sanford says he’ll comply with that request, the Columbia State reports.

Meanwhile, the Anchorage Daily News reports the Alaska Legislature seems poised to override Palin’s veto of $28.6 million in stimulus money.

It takes time, but the needs of children win out most times over politicians pandering too far to their own vanity.

Last week, President Obama released his detailed request for the 2010 federal budget. The Coalition on Human Needs released a detailed analysis on what this would mean for many children’s programs. Highlights include:

The President’s Detailed Budget

The President’s proposals provide some real progress in areas he has established as priorities, especially when combined with funding still available from the economic recovery bill.  In particular, there are education and early childhood initiatives aimed at improving success from preschool through college.  There are also expansions aimed at reducing health disparities and job training and development proposals.  The WIC program (nutritious food for pregnant women and young children) would grow to meet the rising caseload.

The examples described below show modest expansions, including some new initiatives, aimed at certain especially vulnerable groups.  In general, because of the substantial investments through the economic recovery act, services to help people find jobs, meet health and nutrition needs, care for children, and secure housing will expand in FY 2010.  Because the economic recovery money will run out for most programs by the end of FY 2010, it is important for the regular funding for many services to expand at least gradually, in order to provide continuity and meet growing need.  (For more details, see CHN table comparing the President’s proposal to FYs 2005 and 2009: http://chn.org/pdf/2009/FY10PresVsFY09&FY05.pdf).

With 13.7 million people unemployed and 5.7 million jobs lost since the start of the recession, expansion of services for vulnerable people is essential.  Some of those who will receive more help after years of cuts include:

Babies, Toddlers, and Young Children:

• Head Start and Early Head Start grow by $122 million in the President’s plan, from a combined $7.113 billion in FY 2009 to $7.235 billion in FY 2010.  From FYs 2005-2009, Head Start was cut 6 percent, taking inflation into account.  The growth is in addition to the $2.1 billion in temporary economic recovery funding.  Together, the proposal will support doubling the number of children in Early Head Start, to 115,000.  (Department of Health and Human Services) continue

In February, President Obama presented a broad outline for the 2010 budget that addressed children in general ways. Congress passed a budget outline last week that set broad parameters for funding that Congressional appropriators will fill in over the next several months.

On Thursday, the President submitted his complete budget with line-by-line funding recommendations for every federal program. How do kids fare in this budget?

In total, children’s programs saw a $16.7 billion boost over last year’s levels, an increase of 6.7 percent.

Overall, the budget increases discretionary resources to programs that impact children by $2 billion, a 2.7 percent increase over 2009 levels.  However, the overall level of discretionary spending on children is still below fiscal year 2005 levels.

Under Obama’s Budget:

• Children get a raw increase of $16.7 billion over last year’s levels
• Total spending on children would be up 6.7% (3.6% in real terms) over 2009 levels
• Total spending on children would be up 14.5% (in real terms) from five years ago
• Total spending on children would make up 9.2% of non-defense spending (essentially the same from last year, and down from 10.5% five years ago)
• Total spending on children would amount to 1.81% of GDP, higher than at any point in the last five years
• Total discretionary spending on children would be up by $2 billion, a 2.7% increase over 2009 levels, but a real -0.3% decrease
• In real terms, this would be 1.3% lower than discretionary spending levels in 2005, underscoring the slow deterioration in children’s programs the past four years. This had led to cuts in services and fewer children receiving what they need to succeed.

Individual Program Areas (All percents are nominal changes):

• Health: Total Health spending is up by $6.3 billion (10.2% increase over 2009)
• Education: Total Education spending is up by $1.2 billion (2.3% increase over 2009)
• Child Welfare: Total child welfare spending is up by $500 million (5.8% increase over 2009)
• Youth Training: Total youth training is up by $190 million (10% from 2009)
• Housing: Housing is up $580 million (3.5% from ’09)
• Safety: Safety is down $110 million (11.3%)
• Nutrition: Nutrition is up $6.4 billion (13.1%)
• Income Support: Income support is up $1.7 billion (2.9%)

Some Notable Program Increases:

• Child Welfare Training (+ $20 million, 275% increase)
• School Improvement Grants ( + $1 billion, 180% increase)
• Teacher Incentive Fund (+ $620 million, 637% increase)
• Children’s Health Insurance Program (+ $2 billion, 19% increase)
• Youth Build (+ $45 million, 64% increase)
• Homeless Assistance Grants (+ $117 million, 7% increase)

Some Notable Program Cuts:

• Even Start ( – $67 million, 100% cut)
• Juvenile Justice Programs (- $57 million, 15% cut)

Some Notable New Programs:

• High School Graduation Initiative ( $50 million)
• Home Visitation Program ( $124 million)

This represents a good first start and we expect to see this commitment to children deepening over the next several years as the Obama Administration prepares their 2011, 2012, and 2013 budgets. Vote Kids strongly recommends that the appropriators in Congress fund these programs, at a minimum, at the level recommended by President Obama.

Thanks to First Focus for the information presented.

Vote Kids has been highlighting individual budget cuts to state programs benefiting children and families through the year. National Public Radio recently did a report about the impact of these. Underscoring the importance of Congress addressing funding for children’s programs in the economic stimulus and the 2010 budget, states across the country are faced with massive shortfalls and have been cutting health, education, and child safety programs.

Social services for the poor and disadvantaged are being slashed across the country as states try desperately to shore up growing budget deficits. Many of the cuts have already been made, affecting tens of thousands of people. Many more cuts are in the works, as states continue to see declining revenues.

One example is the state of Arizona, a state where both senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl have voted against the stimulus, against expanding the child health insurance program, against the federal budget, and even against afterschool programs for school aged children.

Arizona, which faced a $1.6 billion budget gap this year, has been among the hardest hit. Funding was trimmed for food banks, community health centers and home health care for the elderly. Monthly payments for foster care parents were reduced, and more than 1,100 children with chronic or disabling conditions were dropped from the state Children’s Rehabilitative Services program.

The only relief, it seems, is the federal economic stimulus package. Johnson estimates that stimulus funds should cover about 40 percent of the budget shortfall states would otherwise face. For example, Arizona is using stimulus funds to reverse cuts in child care subsidies. Virginia, Maryland, Florida and Iowa are relying on federal aid to avoid trimming education and health care.

President Obama will be releasing his detailed budget proposal for each children’s program and we hope the president offers substantial new investments to make up for successful programs in state’s being forced to reduce the number of children they serve or shuttered altogether. Children did not create this budget and economic mess and we are not going to solve it by firing their teachers, school nurses, social worker, or close down their afterschool program or health clinic. And politicians should pay a price for their inaction or for putting obstacles in the path to life success for these children.

Click here to listen to the entire story.

The US Senate voted yesterday to pass of the final budget resolution. It passed 53-43 with 3 senators not voting. All Democrats voted for it with the exception of Robert Byrd, Evan Bayh, Ben Nelson, and the newest Democratic senator Arlen Specter. All Republicans voted against it.

After the jump is the full breakdown of the vote among each senator.

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On Wednesday, the House and Senate passed a budget resolution that represents the first step to making substantial new investments in the health, education, and safety of children. In February, President Obama proposed an aggressive agenda for children in his budget. The final resolution increased the amount available to children’s programs from what the Senate initially passed, and scaled down the estate tax giveaway also approved by the Senate which will take away money availble children’s programs in coming years.

In the coming weeks, the President will propose full details of how he will fund children’s programs and Congress will take up appropriations. Vote Kids will provide a full analysis as the process moves along.

The big political news yesterday was Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s decision to switch parties from Republican to Democrat and that he will compete in the Democratic primary for Senator next year. Senator Specter referenced the reaction to his vote for the stimulus package passed into law earlier this year as a key dividing line in deciding to make this decision:

Mr. Specter’s decision came as he was increasingly isolated from his Republican Party and wooed by the Democrats, a direct result of the battle over the president’s $787 billion stimulus bill in February. Mr. Specter provided the decisive vote that won the bill’s passage. That infuriated Republicans in his state who called the stimulus program wasteful spending, and prompted former Rep. Pat Toomey, a conservative, to announce he would challenge the five-term senator in the Republican primary for 2010.

In addition to voting for the stimulus, Senator Specter has voted in favor of a number of pieces of legislation supporting children and working families.

As the votes above show, Specter voted for the fair wage law that will help working single mothers, expanding the children’s health insurance program, the stimulus that included many programs to benefit children, the GIVE Act which promotes national service for programs focused on children, and expanding the 21st Century Community Learning Centers by $1.5 billion.

However, on the budget resolution, Specter voted against the overall resolution (click here to see what President Obama proposed in his budget for children), he voted to freeze spending for five years which would cause programs like Head Start to reduce enrollment if funding does not keep up with inflation, and voted to eliminate the estate tax entirely on people who inherit between $7 and $10 million dollars. Only the wealthiest 1 of every 400 people who die — the top one-quarter of 1 percent — would benefit from this proposal, since they’re the only ones who owe any estate tax under current rules. Within this small group, the wealthiest of the wealthy would benefit the most. Estates worth over $20 million would get an average tax cut of $3.5 million.

Today, the Senate will vote on the final budget resolution approved by a House and Senate conference committee. It will be interesting to see if Specter will go against his new party and join Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson as the two Democrats voting against it, or if he will change his vote to go along with the other 56 members of his new caucus who voted for the initial resolution or expressed support for it but were not present for the vote. Since the budget resolution makes substantial investments in children, Vote Kids hopes Specter votes for it and keeps with his commitments to children as expressed by his other votes in the 2009 session of the 111th Congress.

Congress is coming close to an agreement on the federal budget.

Both the House and Senate have passed budgets that provide a good starting place for the future work of enacting health care reform, funding domestic human needs priorities, and creating renewable energy jobs.  They also set a framework to allow for the revenues and savings needed to pay for these urgently needed priorities.  They may finish their work as early as the week of April 27.

There are differences between the House and Senate.  Send an email to your legislature to push for the best alternatives in these areas:

• Domestic appropriations:  In short, the House has $8 billion more than the Senate – funds that will stretch farther to pay for housing, nutritious food for infants and toddlers (WIC), home energy assistance, education, and many other human needs.  You know the recession is hitting hard and need is growing.  The House figure does better at meeting this need.  (For more information on all these points, see http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/090406a.html)
• Preventing endless delays from derailing health care reform and higher education aid:  The House includes instructions that would apply to the Senate – preventing filibusters (unlimited debate) from running out the clock on these urgent needs.  The technical term is “reconciliation instructions” – all that means is that debate is limited, and health care reform or higher education lending legislation can be enacted with a simple majority vote.  The House reconciliation instructions should be included in the final budget – it doesn’t prevent Congress from adopting health care reform with a large bipartisan majority – but it does prevent obstructionist tactics.
• Opposing unfair and unaffordable tax breaks:  The Senate budget supported more tax breaks for multimillion dollar estates.  It’s more important to fund health care, nutrition aid, job creation – or any of a host of other priorities that create shared prosperity – than to provide a fraction of a percent of multimillion dollar estates with nearly $100 billion in additional tax breaks over a ten year period.

Please make sure it is strong in supporting the President’s priorities:  rebuilding and renewing our economy through health care reform and investments in education and other vital services.

Please send an email to your Rep. and Senators asking them to support the best possible budget during final negotiations – and to vote for the final budget when it reaches the House or Senate floor.

Starting tonight, CBS News will explore in a series called “Children of Recession” how the recession is driving more and more children into poverty. The topics that the “Children of Recession” series will cover include homelessness and poverty, abuse, foster care, education, medical health and psychological development. We will post the video segments as they become available.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the number of unemployed or underemployed Americans has risen by 10 million since the recession began 16 months ago. The center also notes that changes in food stamp enrollment historically has been a way to track changes in poverty, and that since the recession started the number of people receiving food stamps has risen by 4.6 million, or 16.8 percent. Combine these factors with limited or no access to health care, and it becomes startlingly clear the hardships these children are facing.

In Washington DC, Congress will soon take up final deliberations on the budget framework proposed by President Obama and passed in separate versions by the House and Senate three weeks ago. This proposal, if passed, will provide substantial new resources for families and children. Opponents of this budget have an obligation to lay out their agenda for children and families. You don’t help children in an economic downturn by firing their teacher or taking away their health insurance which is exactly what happens when budgets are frozen or cut back on as some propose.