Johnson: South Dakota Slighted in President's Budget

Press Release

Johnson: South Dakota Slighted in President's Budget

Request slashes necessities, misplaces priorities

U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today expressed his disappointment in the President's budget request, which slashed the funding for infrastructure, including major regional water projects; proposed reducing Medicare and Medicaid; and proposed reducing economic development and agriculture programs on which South Dakotans depend. Having received the President's request, Congress will now begin putting together their own fiscal blueprint with which to operate the government.

"Every year the President has sent his budget request to Congress it arrives with large funding gaps for our nation's necessities. This year is no different. With no federal funding for Lewis and Clark, the President's budget denies any federal responsibility to get drinking water in three states to 300,000 people. Instead of funding No Child Left Behind mandates and Medicare and Medicaid, the President is looking for budget savings at the expense of the American people," Johnson said.

"As our economy continues to slide, I will fight hard to see that the wise choices are made about where our tax dollars are spent, and that we stretch every dollar to do the most for the middle class, veterans, seniors and our children," Johnson added. "I will use my seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee to find a balance between financial constraint and funding the programs that are so desperately needed in South Dakota and across our nation."

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