Reason for Concern Far From Over

Warning: Reading the President’s proposed 2007 Budget could induce high blood pressure and quite a bit of anger.

Relax. Breathe. Calm down. The President’s had his say. Now it’s our turn.

Yes, the President’s budget proposes a 50 percent cut to housing for people with disabilities and a 25 percent cut to housing serving the elderly.

And yep, you read it right: he suggests zeroing out rural rental housing, and sharp cuts to the Community Development Block Grant program.

Your eyes weren’t fooling you when you read his recommendations to eliminate the Community Services Block Grant and cut $500 million from the Social Services Block Grant.

While these suggestions are just a few of many bad ideas, they are just suggestions. Congressional hearings on these spending proposals have yet to take place. Congress won’t even pass a budget resolution–a guideline for overall government spending–until April 15, 2006. The President’s policy suggestions won’t be heard until this summer. And the final budget won’t pass until October 1, 2006.

Folks, we are seven months away from the final word on these proposals. We have considerable time to let Minnesota’s Congressional Delegation know that enough is enough.

Minnesota advocates will begin their rally for stronger and better budget on February 22, 2006. Over 150 people from over 100 agencies have signed up for a Briefing on the President’s Budget. We’ll gather, not just to read the fine print and line items. We will be devising a strategy for the next several months.

Small groups will brainstorm how Section 8, public housing, CDBG, and homeless programs should and could work. Later that week, a sizeable group of advocates will then take our assembled ideas to Washington D.C., where we’ll meet with our Congressional Delegation to suggest a better way. And we will agree to serve as a resource over the next several months as our Congressional Delegation plays a leadership role in crafting a budget that serves Minnesota and this nation well.

Would you like to join our effort? Please contact us. We’ve got a lot of bad suggestions to correct.