Democratic lawmakers in the Washington region said they will lobby to protect social-service programs that President Obama wants to slash in his $3.7 trillion budget proposal for 2012 even as they fend off efforts by House Republicans to make much deeper budget cuts.
Obama proposed cutting $300 million from the Community Development Block Grant program local governments use to pay for economic-development initiatives in impoverished areas. He also recommended cutting home-heating assistance for low-income residents in half, from $5 billion nationwide to $2.5 billion, and prohibit the use of Pell Grants, which low-income students use to pay for college, for summer courses.
“At a time when we need to grow this generation for 21st century jobs, it makes no sense whatsoever to cut back on the ability of those students to get a college education,” said Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.
Edwards hedged her criticisms, though, saying Republican proposals to cut the Pell Grants by 15 percent would be far more injurious. Republicans argue that increasing the grants allowed many colleges to raise their tuition rates.
In Arlington County and Falls Church, Community Development Block Grants provide about $2 million for aid to anti-poverty programs, said Arlington Councilwoman Barbara Favola. One Arlington-area housing agency used the money to pay for an on-site housing coordinator. Another used it to buy a computer and provide job-search training for residents.
“Every jurisdiction in the U.S. benefits from this program, and there will be enormous pushback,” Favola said. The National Association of Counties defeated a similar proposal in 2008, she said.
Obama’s $300 million cut in the $4.4 billion block grant program is a drop in the bucket, however, compared to House Republican’s proposal to cut it by $2.9 billion.
Obama’s proposal to cut home-heating assistance comes at a time when the number of people applying for the service is on the rise, local officials said. Applications jumped 41 percent in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax between 2007 and 2010. They increased in Maryland by more than 10 percent between 2009 and 2010, and are expected to jump an additional 8 percent in 2011, said Ralph Markus, the state’s director of home energy programs.
“Certainly my biggest concern is with such a hefty [budget] reduction, what will we say next year when either the benefits are very low, or we won’t be able to offer them help at all?”
