"The Virtual Center for Independent Living for West Virginia"Home > Advocacy in Action > Federal Budget

The Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to markup its budget resolution this week, March 9, 2005, and the Congressional budget will then go to the floor of Congress next week.
Mountain State Centers for Independent Living urges you to contact your Senators and Representatives this week! Tell your elected representatives in Washington that you are counting on them to produce a responsible, compassionate budget resolution that protects human service programs.
To view more information on the federal budget please visit: White House Web site.
Budget Statistics Nation-wide (Source: Center for Community Change)
The President's budget is $18.3 billion below the amount needed to maintain programs that serve people at home. As a consequence numerous government programs will face massive funding cuts such as:
In addition, the Senate Budget Resolution contains no reserve funds for the Bush Administration's New Freedom Initiative proposals (i.e. Money Follows the Person, respite services) and the Family Opportunity Act.
The President's budget makes drastic cuts in funding for programs that matter to West Virginia families. These cuts will shift responsibility for funding these priorities onto the already cash-strapped state. Since West Virginia will not be able to provide the same level of services with less federal funding, the budget cuts will force the state either to reduce funding for schools and leave more people hungry, homeless, cold and uninsured, or to raise state taxes.
The President's budget would reduce funding for education and training programs in West Virginia in 2006, with the cuts getting bigger in later years. No program, including K-12, will be spared.
Programs providing needed services to low-income families in West Virginia face major cuts in 2006, with the cuts getting bigger over time. Under the President's budget proposal, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), programs for abused and neglected children, Head Start, and child care assistance programs all face steep cuts.
The President's budget targets housing and community development programs in West Virginia for funding cuts in 2006 and beyond.
The budget would cut funding in West Virginia for HIV/AIDS treatment services, including funding to help those with HIV/AIDS purchase drugs. President Bush has also proposed major cuts to the Medicaid program in West Virginia.
While taxpayers in West Virginia would lose local services, they will pay increasingly more for the Pentagon.
Contact your representatives today. Tell your elected officials that you do not support a budget that contains harmful and potentially devastating provisions for people with disabilities, West Virginians on limited incomes, our children and seniors. Make sure they understand that they must vote against a budget that would cut programs like Medicaid, food stamps, child care, education, veterans medical care, community development, and law enforcement programs. Tell them that you will not forget if they vote to cut or cap programs such as these in a budget that includes more than $1 trillion in tax breaks for the wealthy.
We are asking you to call and/or write or email a letter to your Senators asking them to oppose a budget resolution that would oppose deep cuts in mandatory programs such as Medicaid and food stamps and domestic discretionary programs such as education, housing, employment and transportation.
Senator Robert C. Byrd
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Web Email form: http://byrd.senate.gov/
Senator John Rockefeller, IV
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Email: senator@rockefeller.senate.gov
Put the date here
The Honorable (insert Senator's name)
United State Senate
(insert address)
Washington, DC 20015
Dear Senator:
As Congress begins its work on the budget resolution, I urge you to reject a budget resolution that is harmful to people with disabilities, low-income and other working families by cutting funding for programs and services that help them.
Members of Congress must not support a budget that makes deep cuts to or caps spending on programs like Medicaid, child care, food stamps, veterans' medical care, community development and education. Cuts to these and other programs would reduce or eliminate services critical to people with disabilities, low-income families, other working families and vulnerable citizens of our state. They will have no other options if Medicaid services are eliminated or cut. Home and community based services, food stamps, prescription drugs, and housing are fundamental to keeping people healthy and enabling them to live and work independently. West Virginia is struggling to maintain current levels of supports now and any additional federal cuts would prove devastating to the citizens of our State.
Deficit reduction must be fair and balanced and take into consideration the current future well-being of all Americans.
I strongly urge you to oppose any Budget Resolution that includes cuts in Medicaid and other human service programs. West Virginians and their families are counting on you.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Updated: March 9, 2005
www.mtstcil.org