Connecticut Residents Would Pay Price for Bush’s Budget
BUDGET-CT
The Norwalk Hour
Anthony Rotunno
Boston University Washington News Service
2/21/07
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 – Connecticut residents would be forced to foot the bill if President Bush’s proposed cuts in K-12 education spending are adopted, according to a new study.
If the president’s 2008 budget is approved, Connecticut would lose a total of $73.5 million in elementary and secondary school funding by 2012 according to a new study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank that advocates for low- and middle-income families.
“It is certainly the case [that states] will have to pick up some of the funding shortfall,” Sharon Parrott, the center’s director of welfare reform and income support, said. “Even when states fill in there will be implications – cuts in other services or increased taxes at the state level.”
The priorities set in President Bush’s budget are not in the best interest of the nation or Connecticut, according to Douglas Hall, associate research director at Connecticut Voices for Children, a liberal statewide research organization that advocates for programs to aid children and their families. Hall criticized the president’s budget as “one piece of a larger strategy of passing on cuts that place heavier burdens on state and local governments.”
Although the president’s proposed budget “made a sincere attempt to slow the growth of spending,” the cuts it proposes would prove detrimental to state governments, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., said in an emailed statement.
“The bottom line is if the president’s budget were to pass, a number of social programs critical to Connecticut and the rest of the country would be significantly cut,” he said.
The president’s proposal allows the federal government to abdicate its role in education, Hall said, leaving state and local government resources greatly diminished.
President Bush’s budget provides the public and policy makers with a window into the kinds of cuts that would come down the pike, and those cuts only represent “the tip of the iceberg” if long term fiscal problems aren’t addressed properly, Parrott said.
“The president’s budget would make deficits bigger…and move us backward in confronting the nation’s challenges,” she said.
The drop in K-12 education funding would be accompanied by a $19.1 million slash in funds to the pre-schools supported by the Head Start program in Connecticut, according to data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“What [the budget] says loud and clear is that investing in things like education and child care are less important than sustaining tax cuts for the very wealthiest people,” Hall said.
Because the proposed cuts remove a sizeable chunk of funding, Hall said, state governments would need to respond to the issue, but it is unlikely they would be able to find ways to offset all of the cuts’ effects.
Since its delivery on February 5, the president’s budget has been criticized by the Democrats who control Congress. Democrats are now likely to write from scratch and pass their own budget, and will have to reach a compromise with the White House for a final product.
Hall said that while many members who would like to avoid the kind of cuts Bush proposes, the president’s veto power will likely defeat their attempts.
Despite the criticism it’s received, Department of Education officials said they stand by their $56 billion budget.
“We are quite proud of the investment that this…budget would make in promoting excellence in American education,” Jim Bradshaw, a department spokesperson, said in a statement.
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