Conrad: President's Budget a Step in the Right Direction

Press Release

Senator Kent Conrad officially received the President's Fiscal Year 2013 budget today as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. The Senator said the President's budget continues to move the nation in the right direction, focusing on strengthening the economy, creating jobs and bringing the national debt and deficits under control .

"People need to remember that when the President was elected he inherited a fiscal and economic disaster. His policies have played a critical role in bringing us back from the brink and putting the nation on the road to recovery," Senator Conrad said. "We were losing more than 800,000 private-sector jobs a month when the President took office. We are now gaining more than 200,000 private-sector jobs a month. That is a dramatic turnaround. And the President's budget continues that investment in our nation's economic recovery."

Senator Conrad noted that the President's budget also includes numerous measures that would bring the deficit down as a share of the economy from 8.5 percent in 2012 to 2.8 percent in 2022.

"The only true way forward is through a comprehensive and balanced deficit reduction agreement," Senator Conrad said. "We need to come together on a plan that modernizes our tax system, reforms our entitlement programs, and attacks wasteful spending. President Obama has demonstrated that he wants to reach such an agreement. Now others are going to have to be willing to step up and be part of the solution."

An analysis of the FY 2013 Budget's benefits for North Dakota follows:

Flood Control
The budget allocates $5 million for the Fargo-Moorhead Metro project for planning, engineering and design. This represents one of the Corps of Engineers top funded projects in their general investigations account.

Senator Conrad said that he will continue to push for additional funding for the flood control project through the appropriations process. "I'm pretty confident that, at the end of the day, we can get this project authorized this year," Senator Conrad said. "This budget shows the Administration's commitment to move forward with the Fargo flood control project."

The budget also includes $25.5 million for Garrison Diversion, as well as an additional $433,000 for various flood studies in the Red River Basin.

Rural Health
As a result of push back from Senator Conrad, the President's budget no longer includes a proposal to repeal the Frontier States Provision.Senator Conrad authored the Frontier Amendment as part of the health reform bill. It dramatically increases Medicare reimbursement rates for North Dakota's health care providers.

Agriculture

While overall there are cuts in agricultural programs, the President's budget calls for extending disaster programs through 2017. It also provides $5 million to extend Senator Conrad's popular "Open Fields" program, which provides incentives to farmers and ranchers who voluntarily open their land to hunting, fishing and other wildlife-related activities.

Education

Recognizing the importance of high quality education in rural states, the President's budget maintains Senator Conrad's Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP). REAP funds are targeted to school districts with less than 600 students -- many of which lack the personnel and resources to apply for competitive federal education grants.

Indian Affairs
Funding forUnited Tribes Technical College is maintained at $4.5 million.

Defense

The President's budgetincludes $4.6 million for additions to the Minot Air Force Base B-52 munitions Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) facility, used for maintenance related to the nuclear weapons carried by the aircraft. Minot is one of just 11 bases to receive Air Force military construction funding this year.

Energy

The budget increases funding for biomass and biorefinery research and development to $270 million, a 36 percent increase from last year. North Dakota has the fifth highest potential of any state to produce energy from biomass, including grasses.

Law Enforcement

The Administration proposes increasing funding for the COPS program to $290 million. COPS grants could be especially vital to western North Dakota, where the need for law enforcement officers is rapidly growing.

Transportation

The President's budget includes a $476 billion, six year surface transportation reauthorization plan for roads and rails. The proposal could create thousands of quality jobs in the short term.

The budget also includes a one-time investment of $50 billion in immediate transportation investments in 2012.

Veterans

The President's budget includes $825,000 in construction funding to begin the remodel and expansion of the Fargo VA's urgent care area.

The President's budget provides $61 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, a $2.5 billion increase over last year, to keep the commitment made to care for America's veterans.

The budget also includes a $1 billion proposal to create as many as 20,000 new conservation jobs for veterans to preserve and restore national parks and other federal, state, and local lands. The initiative seeks to help lower the high unemployment rate for post-Sept. 11 military veterans.

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