President's Budget Breaks the Bank

NEWS
House Appropriations Committee
Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-FL)
Website address: www.house.gov/appropriations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:	                              Contact: Elizabeth Morra/John Scofield
February 15, 2000	                                       (202) 226-5828

President’s Budget Breaks the Bank

Spends $41 Billion More Than Last Year

"The President’s budget has something for everyone. He creates scores of new programs each with a price tag and their own bureaucracy. The President proposes to hire more than 20,000 new bureaucrats in his budget. While some of these programs might have pleasant sounding titles and focus group appeal, the taxpayers simply cannot afford all of them. Just because the country is benefiting from a surplus, people should not be looking for new ways to squander it. Instead of spending this money, we should do what most families do with an unexpected windfall, pay down our debt," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-FL).

Examples of Priority Programs Terminated in the President’s Budget

$498 million Local Law Enforcement Block Grant
$238 million Juvenile Accountability Block Grant
$611 million Truth in Sentencing State Prison Grants
$380 million Title VI Education Block Grant

Examples of New Full Time Employees (FTE) Requested in the President’s Budget

2,338 FTEs U.S. Department of Agriculture
2,800 FTEs Internal Revenue Service
3,390 FTEs Department of Veterans Affairs
1,387 FTEs Department of Interior
1,011 FTEs Department of Commerce
2,757 FTEs Department of Transportation

Examples of New User Fees and Tax Proposals

$534 million Food Safety and Inspection fees

$58 million Other Agriculture fees

$200 million Broadcaster Spectrum fee

$322 million INS/immigration fees

$100 million NICS gun check fee

$34 million NOAA navigation and fisheries fee

$966 million Harbor Services User fee

$7 million Corps of Engineers, regulatory program fees

$220 million HCFA fees

$210 million Customs fees

$16 million EPA pesticide regulation fee

$104 million FEMA flood map license

$965 million FAA air traffic service fees

$352 million Other Transportation fees

Examples of New Programs in the President’s Budget

$30 million HUD Community Gun and Safety and Violence Reduction Initiative
$14 million for WIC electronic benefits transfer pilot project.
$10 million to restore food stamp benefits to about 5,000 elderly immigrants who have reached age 65.
$15 million to restore food stamp benefits to 85,000 adults living with eligible legal immigrant children.
$8.8 million for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to combat invasive species that threaten US agricultural production.
$11 billion Farm Safety Net Initiative (mandatory)
$85 million Clean Air Partnership Fund
$50 million for EPA to provide clean water grants just for Great Lakes area states
$30 million Information Integration Initiative
$4.25 million International Environmental Monitoring Program
$30 million Expanded Access to Financial Services
$15 million Money Laundering Strategy
$224.6 million Staffing Tax Administration for Balance and Equity
$2.5 million for the Puerto Rico Elections Commission to pay for citizen’s education and the cost of a referendum regarding the Commonwealth’s future status.
$468 million Expanded Intercity Rail Capital Program
$68 million transportation initiatives in the Missisippi Delta region
$255 million Fathers Work/Families Win
$75 million Responsible Integration for Young Offenders
$50 million Reemployment Service Grants
$43 million Office of Disability Policy
$125 million National Family Caregiver Support Program
$100 million nongame wildlife grants to States
$50 million Geological Survey grants to States for to assist in transfer of scientific data to local decision makers
$30 million Delta Regional Authority
$100 million Long-term Russian Initiative
$10 million Scientific Recruitment and Retention Initiative
$7 million International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative
$5 million Tribal Energy Program
$2 million Geopowering of the West
$27 million Recreation Modernization Program
$20 million Challenge 21 Riverine Ecosystem Restoration and Flood Hazard Mitigation
$50 million Computer Security Protection Research and Development
$50 million Home Internet Access for Low Income Families
$100 million Coastal Impact Assistance
$28 million Minority Research and Scholarships
$10 million Fishery Vessel Buyout
$5.5 million Global Disaster Information Network
$15 million E-commerce Technical Assistance Program for Manufacturers and Small Businesses
$4.5 million Indian Country Tourism Development
$307.5 million Grants to Public Broadcasters to Convert to Digital Technology
$26 million INS Detention Trustee
$150 million Grants to States for Hiring Community Prosecutors for Prosecuting Gun Laws
$75 million grants for Pre- and Post- Incarceration Drug Treatment Programs for Prisoners
$20 million Grants for Police Scholarships
$10 million Gun Destruction programs
$20 million Grants to Enhance Police Integrity and for Hate Crime Training
$5 million Grants to Enhance Police Recruitment
$5 million Citizens Problem-Solving Academies
$35 million Youth and School Safety Initiative

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