Volume 7, Number 6
In this Issue:
FY 2009 Labor-HHS Appropriations Stalled
Focusing in on Our Nation’s (Lack of) Spending on Children
August Recess Provides Opportunity for In-State Advocacy
FY 2009 Labor-HHS Appropriations Stalled
It remains unclear whether appropriations bills for FY 2009 for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS-Ed) will make it to a floor vote in one or both chambers of Congress by the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th. The full Senate Appropriations Committee passed its FY 2009 Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations bill on June 26th. However, the House Appropriations Committee abruptly ended mark-up on their version of the bill that same day, due to a dispute over an amendment offered by the Ranking Member to substitute the bill with the Department of the Interior spending bill in an effort to raise the issue of expanded oil drilling.
Although neither chamber’s spending bill has reached a floor vote, the content of the bills as they stand now provides an indicator of the Labor-HHS-Ed spending levels Congress intends to set for FY 2009. In the area of child abuse prevention funding, the bills contain provisions including:
- A $10 million increase for Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) in the Senate bill, though this would only reinstate a portion of the $25 million cut from the program last year;
- Level-funding for CAPTA State Grants in both bills ($26.5 million);
- Level-funding for CAPTA Community-Based Prevention Grants in both bills ($41.6 million);
- Increases to CAPTA Discretionary Grants to $39.6 million in the Senate bill, and to $41.9 million in the House bill (from the current funding level of $37.1 million). Of that amount, the House allocates $15 million to support home visiting, the Senate allocates $12 million for this purpose;
- Level-funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) at $1.7 billion in both bills, rejecting the Administration’s proposed $500 million cut to the program.
It appears increasingly likely that Congress will not be able to complete work on all twelve of the FY 2009 appropriations bills before the end of this fiscal year. House and Senate leaders are reportedly looking to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that would go into effect October 1st. If this occurs, federal funding for any appropriations bill not already enacted would be maintained at FY 2008 levels. Congress would then presumably work on passage of the remaining appropriations bills after the election, or possibly after the new Administration is in place.
Focusing in on Our Nation’s (Lack of) Spending on Children
Report Examines Federal Spending on Children and Families; Senate Bill Would Require Administration to do the Same
The Urban Institute, in partnership with the New America Foundation and with support from First Focus and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has released a new report entitled Kids’ Share 2008: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget. The report looks at federal spending trends and tax policies that impact children and families, and finds that domestic spending on children in 2008 is unfortunately continuing to follow a downward trend. According to the report’s data, while federal expenditures overall continue to grow, the portion of domestic spending focused on children has steadily decreased over the last five decades, dropping a total of 22% since 1960.
This report further supports the findings of Children’s Budget 2008, a publication released in April by First Focus which showed that since 2003, only one penny of every new non-defense dollar spent by the federal government has gone towards children’s programs.
Click Here to download a copy of Kids' Share 2008.
Click Here to download First Focus's press release about the report.
Click Here to download the Urban Institute fact sheet about the report.
In what he hopes will be a step towards reversing this trend of declining investment in children, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the Children’s Budget Act (S. 3277) on July 16th. The bill would require the President to include in the Administration’s annual budget submitted to Congress a separate analysis of all spending on children’s programs, including a detailed breakdown of spending by agency, department, and initiative as well as an estimate of the portion of overall domestic spending being allocated to children’s programs.
Advocates of the legislation have noted that the law currently governing the requirements for the Administration’s annual budget request already includes similar specific instructions for other spending areas, such as a mandate requiring a separate analysis of homeland security spending, which means that implementing the Children’s Budget Act would be a simple addition to the law.
“We need to prioritize our children and currently that is simply not the case,” said Senator Menendez. “If we get a complete picture of how we spend on our children’s programs today, then we can work to ensure we are not shortchanging the vulnerable members of our society tomorrow.”
August Recess Provides Opportunity for In-State Advocacy
Congress will be on recess from August 9th through September 7th, providing a month-long opportunity for you to get some face-to-face time with your members of Congress in your home state/district. Some examples of recess activities you may find helpful to your advocacy efforts include:
- Program Site Visits: Invite your Senators and Representative to spend time at one of your prevention programs so that they can see firsthand how your programs are helping to prevent child abuse and neglect. Tie the program to federal policies (ex. have your members of Congress shadow a home visitor and use that opportunity to educate them on the Education Begins at Home Act).
- State/District Meetings: Schedule a meeting with your members of Congress in their state/district offices. Consider coordinating with other prevention advocates in your area to both demonstrate the broad support for federal policies supporting child abuse prevention, and to increase your likelihood of securing a meeting. Even though they’re on recess, members of Congress will likely have pretty packed schedules, especially considering this is an election year.
- Town Hall Meetings: Representatives and Senators often schedule a host of “town hall meetings” during August recess to provide constituents with an opportunity to hear about his/her priorities and to ask questions about the member’s positions. Contact state and district offices for scheduling information and attend the meetings prepared to ask a question on a specific child abuse prevention issue (i.e. Promoting Safe and Stable Families funding or the Education Begins at Home Act).
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