Congressman Sestak Supports Fiscally-Responsible House Budget Resolution

Press Release

Congressman Sestak Supports Fiscally-Responsible House Budget Resolution

Today, Congressman Sestak voted for H. Con. Res. 312, the Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2009. The budget resolution is a fiscally responsible investment to domestic programs, including education, children's health care, veterans' health care, and innovation. Furthermore, the Budget accommodates tax relief for middle-income Americans and provides robust security and defense funding — "Our budget today rejects the misguided budget of the Bush Administration and instead invests in proven programs that help families struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn," said Congressman Sestak. "This budget creates a new direction for our nation - setting the path for education, economic, health, and defense security in our nation."

This budget rejects the Bush legacy of growing debt, weakened economy, deficit-financed tax agenda, and underinvestment of vital health, education, and economic development programs. "I am particularly concerned about the effects of the President's Budget to residents of the 7thDistrict and Pennsylvania," said Congressman Sestak. "In many programs, Pennsylvania suffers some of the deepest cuts made in the President's Budget. This budget rejects the incessant underinvestment of the Bush Administration."

In Pennsylvania, the President's budget cuts six million dollars from local law enforcement agencies; cuts almost $40 million from firefighting grants; cuts $41 million from Community Development Block Grants; slashes $45 million from career and technical education, reduces critical funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program by $21 million - more than any other state; diminishes funding the Public Housing Capital Fund by over $30 million - second only to New York; and devastates funding for the Federal-Aid Highways Program by almost 30 million dollars. Furthermore, the President's Budget would also have cut four million dollars from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which provides many services and jobs to the 7th District.

"The economic polices of the Bush Administration have failed to help American families that are struggling to make ends meet with rising prices, mortgage crisis, and widespread job loss," said Congressman Sestak. "The Budget Resolution provides a fiscally responsible blueprint for economic recovery to make smart investments in renewable energy, health care, education, American innovation and infrastructure."

The House-passed budget is fiscally responsible, balancing the budget by 2012. The budget resolution complies with the House pay-as-you-go rule that requires all mandatory spending and revenue provisions to be deficit-neutral. The budget resolution also provides reconciliation protection for a repair of the Alternative Minimum Tax that is fully paid for. The budget contains initiatives to crack down on wasteful spending, and its deficit-neutral reserve funds will ensure that new initiatives are offset by reductions in lower priority spending. The budget relies on realistic economic assumptions from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Specifically, this bill would invest in the following:

Defense Appropriations
The resolution calls for defense discretionary budget authority at the levels recommended by the Administration for fiscal years 2009 through 2013, calling for defense appropriations of $537.8 billion in FY 2009, $545.5 billion in FY 2010, $552 billion in FY 2011, $560.7 billion in FY 2012, and $571.2 billion in FY 2013.

The resolution's totals for "national defense" include funding for the Defense Department and nuclear-weapons-related activities of the Energy Department, as well as national security activities at other agencies, including portions of the funding for the Coast Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The resolution calls for shifting resources to address non-proliferation, to emphasize readiness, to address military health care, and to improve the quality of life for troops and their families.

These totals do not include funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which are provided under a separate budget category and would not count toward the discretionary spending caps.

In addition to the regular appropriations for defense, the resolution assumes an additional $70 billion in FY 2009 for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as proposed by the administration, but does not assume any funding beyond FY 2009. The resolution provides that funds appropriated for such overseas deployments would not count against the discretionary spending cap.

Non-Defense Appropriations
The resolution provides a non-defense discretionary budget authority of $482 billion in FY 2009, $22.4 billion (5%) more than the administration requested. The resolution also allows up to $27.6 billion in advance FY 2010 appropriations to be provided in FY 2009, $2 billion more than requested, and it allows spending allocations to be increased by $968 million if the Appropriations Committee provides specified funding levels for certain "program integrity initiatives," including tax compliance at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Including the extra spending on the integrity initiatives and the advance appropriations, the resolution would provide roughly $25.4 billion (6%) more than requested.

According to the Budget committee, the resolution provides $7.1 billion (9%) more than requested for education and training programs, provides $1.2 billion (24%) more than requested for energy programs, and provides $3.2 billion (8%) more than requested for veterans programs. The resolution also assumes the rejection of proposed cuts to local law enforcement programs, the Community Development Block Grant Program, Environmental Protection Agency grant programs, and transportation programs.
Education, Training, Employment & Social Services

For education, training, employment and social services programs, the resolution calls for $85.3 billion in discretionary budget authority in FY 2009, and increased levels of discretionary spending for these programs in each of the four succeeding years, reaching $93.6 billion in FY 2013.

The resolution assumes the rejection of the president's proposed cuts to education programs, including rejection of his proposals to eliminate many education programs. It also rejects the president's proposed steep cuts in job training and social service programs.

The Budget Committee report states that the increased spending could be used for several purposes, including Head Start, the Title I Compensatory Education program, and job training and national service programs. It could also be used to help improve access to colleges, support training for "green collar" jobs, and broaden access to Hispanic-serving and historically black colleges and universities.

Health
The resolution proposes $57.6 billion in budget authority in FY 2009 for discretionary health programs, and higher levels of spending for these programs in each of the four succeeding years. By FY 2013, funding for these programs under the measure would increase to $60.2 billion.

The resolution's increased health funding is intended to emphasize support for disease-prevention, as well as increased support for food safety, access to quality health care for under-served populations, and other important programs
According to the committee report, the resolution provides more funding for this function in FY 2009 than the president's request.

Veterans' Benefits & Services
The resolution calls for the budget authority of $48.2 billion in FY 2009 for discretionary veterans' programs, which consist mainly of veterans' health programs — $3.2 billion (7%) more than the president's request. The resolution calls for increased funding for these veterans' programs in each of the succeeding four years. By FY 2013, funding for these veterans' programs would reach $53.7 billion.

The resolution rejects the president's proposals to increase enrollment fees in veterans' health care programs along with his proposals to increase co-payments.
Increased funding levels are intended to improve military and veterans' health care facilities and services, and address veterans' mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury. Additional funding could also be used to reduce the backlog of disability claims.

Low-Income Programs
For low-income discretionary programs, the resolution calls for $55.6 billion in discretionary budget authority in FY 2009, and increased levels of funding for these discretionary programs in each of the succeeding four years. By FY 2013, funding for these programs would reach $60.7 billion. According to the committee report, the resolution provides more funding than the president's request for FY 2009.

Transportation
The transportation portion of the resolution includes funding for various Transportation Department programs, such as the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, Amtrak, and other programs. It also includes Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration, which are part of the Homeland Security Department, as well as civilian aviation programs at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and several related agencies that deal with transportation.

H. Con. Res 312 calls for $24.7 billion in budget authority for discretionary transportation programs in FY 2009. Funding levels are increased each year, reaching $31.1 billion in budget authority and $88 billion in outlays by FY 2013.
The resolution also rejects other proposed cuts to highway and transit funding. It assumes increased funding for Amtrak, as well as additional funding for grants to airports, which is in anticipation of a new FAA authorization bill.

Mandatory Spending
The resolution assumes mandatory outlays of $1.9 billion in FY 2009. It generally assumes that mandatory spending would be at the levels contained in the CBO current policy baseline, except for a $750 million reduction through FY 2013 that would result from reconciliation legislation required under the resolution.

Consistent with the PAYGO rule, any increase in mandatory spending would have to be offset either by cuts in other mandatory spending or through increases in federal revenue.
For example, while the resolution establishes a reserve fund that could accommodate an increase in spending for the State Child Health Insurance Program of up to $50 billion over five years, any such increase must be fully offset. The resolution rejects the president's proposed five-year, $196 billion reduction in spending for Medicare and Medicaid.

"I am pleased with this Budget Resolution for prioritizing and balancing the right investments - funding for our children's education, our national health, our economic strength, and our defense infrastructure - in a fiscally responsible manner," said Congressman Sestak. "This Budget Resolution is the right investment for the nation, for the future, and for our security."

Born and raised in Delaware County, former 3-star Admiral Joe Sestak served in the Navy for 31 years and now serves as the Representative from the 7th District of Pennsylvania. He led a series of operational commands at sea, including Commander of an aircraft carrier battle group of 30 U.S. and allied ships with over 15,000 sailors and 100 aircraft that conducted operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. After 9/11, Joe was the first Director of "Deep Blue," the Navy's anti-terrorism unit that established strategic and operations policies for the "Global War on Terrorism." He served as President Clinton's Director for Defense Policy at the National Security Council in the White House, and holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University. According to the office of the House Historian, Joe is the highest-ranking former military officer ever to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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