Feb. 6, 2007
 
Rahall: New Budget Shortchanges Hardworking West Virginians Yet Again
 
By HNN Staff
 
Washington, DC (HNN) -- U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) expressed concerns with the President's budget proposal for the coming year, which was released by the White House on Monday, Feb. 5, 2007.
 
"Last November, Americans sent a clear message when they voted for a new direction for the country. Apparently the President still hasn't gotten the message. This budget proposal sings the same old tune and frankly, it's a tune that has played itself out."
 
The President's proposal is seeking $624.6 billion for military spending, more than one-fifth of the total budget, but slashes funding for Medicare and Medicaid, and a host of other domestic priorities while asking the average American to pay while the giving the wealthiest continued breaks.
 
"There is no better example of the President's misplaced priorities than a budget that hurts West Virginia's seniors while funding rebuilding in Iraq," Rahall said.
 
From healthcare to education, family programs will operate with less money, and with no allowance for inflation or population growth. The Appalachian Regional Commission, too, was denied any increase in funding while the Economic Development Association suffered severe cuts.
 
"If we want to keep America strong, if we are serious about protecting what we have and building a better tomorrow, we must invest in Americans," Rahall said. "I've asked it before, and I'll ask it again-why can't we afford America?"
 
Another one of the programs singled out by Bush for deep cuts is Medicare, which provides healthcare for about 43 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries. The Medicare change proposed by the president includes a proposed increase in premiums for many elderly. The proposal would result in $77 billion in funding cuts for Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years, and $280 billion over the next 10. Furthermore, if enacted, the Medicaid changes would place significant stress on state budgets.
 
In addition, Bush's education proposal would eliminate 43 student aid programs. They include the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, which helps the neediest among Pell Grant recipients.
 
The budget proposal again falls short in its support for our veterans, and proposes higher health care enrollment fees for veterans whose incomes are above certain levels and who have no illnesses or injuries that resulted from their military service. Rahall has joined his colleagues in Congress in rejecting similar proposals. For the same veterans, seeks to increase co-payments on prescription drugs.
 
Finally, the President's budget again attempts to eliminate two of West Virginia's local crime fighting tools-the Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) program and Justice Assistance Grants (JAG), while also gutting the State Homeland Security Grant Program.
 
"This budget is robbing Peter to pay Paul and in this case, those paying the price are our seniors, our veterans, our students and our families who are being stripped of important services," Rahall said.
 
Some of the budget items affecting West Virginia families follow (compiled by Joint Economic Committee):
 
285,000 West Virginia Retirees Could See Retirement Benefit Cuts Under President's Privatization Proposal. President Bush has again snuck a big Social Security privatization plan in his budget that, if enacted, would result in millions of middle-income workers receiving little or no Social Security benefits in retirement. In West Virginia, 285,000 beneficiaries could be subject to an annual benefit cut of $6,785 under the President's private account plan, according to an analysis by the House Ways and Means Committee. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/2/05; Committee on Ways and Means, The Bush Benefit Cuts: Stateby-State Impact, 9/14/06]
 
President's Health Care Proposal Will Squeeze West Virginia's Middle Class With More Costs and Less Coverage. The President's health insurance proposal will not help the vast majority of West Virginia's 306,000 uninsured, will not address rising health care premiums that have increased 87 percent since 2000, and would eventually impose a new health insurance tax on many West Virginia middle class families. The President's proposal would also weaken traditional employer-sponsored health insurance, which covers 868,000 West Virginia workers and their families, by extending the current tax incentive for such group coverage to coverage in the more costly individual market. [Kaiser State Health Facts, (Uninsured 2005), (Employer Coverage 2005); Joint Economic Committee, The President's Health Care Proposal: All Risk, No Reward, January 2007; Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits 2006 Annual Survey: Summary of Findings, 2006]
 
Huge Medicare Cuts Would Endanger West Virginia's 351,000 Medicare Beneficiaries' Access to Quality Care and Impose a New Tax on Seniors. The administration's budget includes $78 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts and billions in new premiums that threaten to endanger West Virginia's 351,000 Medicare patients' access to the care they need to lead healthy, independent lives. Under the President's plan, more and more West Virginia Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay higher premiums for coverage of prescription drugs and doctors' services, and fees paid to home health agencies, hospitals and nursing homes would be substantially reduced. The administration's budget also assumes that an 8-percent Medicare reimbursement cut for doctors scheduled to go into effect next year will not be reversed. [President Bush FY2008 Budget; Kaiser State Health Facts, 2005; New York Times, 2/4/07]
 
Underfunding of State Grants for Children's Health Care Could Add to the Ranks of West Virginia's 36,000 Uninsured Kids. While the President's budget would slightly increase the federal contribution to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), it is $10 billion less than is needed to merely continue covering the children already enrolled in SCHIP and would give West Virginia less money to cover its neediest children. >From FY2003 to FY2006, West Virginia's SCHIP block grant funding has already been reduced from $37.4 million to $27.4 million. Further cuts will undermine a program critical to raising healthy and economically secure children and risk adding to the ranks of West Virginia's nearly 36,000 uninsured kids. [President Bush FY2008 Budget; Federal Funds Information for States Database; Kaiser State Health Facts, 2005; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11/26/06]
 
West Virginia's 176,000 Veterans Could Be Hurt By VA Funding Shortfalls. Nearly half of the military servicemen and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will require health care services for the physical and psychological traumas of war, yet the President's budget again underfunds the Department of Veterans Affairs. The budget requests approximately $34.2 billion for veterans health care, a 6-percent increase over the 2007 funding level of $32.3 billion in the continuing budget resolution. The VA has testified in the past that the Veterans Health Administration requires a minimum annual increase of 13-14 percent to meet the rising costs from medical inflation and increasing demand. Without adequate funding, the VA health care system will find it more difficult to provide quality care for West Virginia's 176,000 veterans and troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. [The Independent Budget, Critical Issues Report, On FY2008; Newsweek, 1/19/06; U.S. Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey; FY2007 Continuing Resolution]
 
Aid for West Virginia's College Students Whacked Again; West Virginia University Tuition Up 38 Percent in Four Years. Over the course of their lifetime, college graduates will earn $1 million more than high school graduates, and college graduates are more likely to have jobs that offer employer sponsored health care and retirement benefits. Yet the President's budget again freezes funds for key college programs like work study and zeroes out Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG). In 2006, West Virginia received $6.4 million in federal college work study funds and $4.9 million in SEOG grants. As tuition and fees at schools like West Virginia University increase 38 percent in just four years, the administration's cuts in student aid will put college further out of reach for many West Virginia students. [State PIRG Higher Education Project, April 2006; Federal Funds Information for States Database; Chronicle for Higher Education, Tuition and Fees, 2002-2007]
 
Funding for West Virginia Terrorism Prevention and Disaster Response Slashed by Millions. The President's budget guts programs that help West Virginia's local governments prevent and respond to acts of terrorism and other major disasters. The State Homeland Security Grant Program, which awarded $51.5 million to West Virginia from 2003 through 2006, was cut to $187 million nationally. The Bush administration also attempts to eliminate the Law Enforcement Terrorist Prevention Program (LETPP) by reducing the national funding level from $384 million in 2006 to just $263 million. West Virginia received $12.9 million from 2004 through 2006 in LETPP funding for prevention of terrorist attacks, intelligence gathering and interoperable communications. [President Bush FY2008 Budget; Federal Funds Information for States Database; Department of Justice]
 
Programs to Keep West Virginia's Neighborhoods Safe Lose Millions in Federal Funding. The President's budget again attempts to eliminate two of West Virginia's local crime fighting tools-the Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) program and Justice Assistance Grants (JAG). COPS helps West Virginia's law enforcement agencies hire police officers, enhance crime fighting technology, and support crime prevention initiatives, while JAG supports state and local drug task forces, community crime prevention programs and prosecution initiatives. In 2006, West Virginia received $2.1 million in JAG funding and $5.4 million in COPS funding that it used to keep neighborhoods safer for West Virginia families. [President Bush FY2008 Budget; Federal Funds Information for States Database; Department of Justice, COPS End of Year Report, FY 2006]