For Immediate Release
Saturday, July 27, 1996
New Study Details Devastating Impact of Congressional Budget Plan on States
St. Louis, Missouri —A new study prepared by Fiscal Planning Services, Inc. details the devastating impact that the Congressional budget plan would have on state and local budgets, particularly in the areas of health care, education and training, and the environment. The current Congressional budget plan would slash federal aid to state and local governments by $140 billion from 1997 through 2002.
The study, released at the National Conference of State Legislatures convention being held here July 27-31, displays program-by-program cuts that states and local governments would suffer if the most recent round of Congressional budget cuts were implemented.
"This study provides concrete evidence that the Congress has not actually moderated their plan to balance the federal budget on the backs of working families," said Gerald W. McEntee, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, which commissioned the study. "This new Congressional budget plan is almost identical to the plan that was proposed last year, with drastic cuts in spending for health care, education and the environment."
The impact of these cuts in such states as California and New York would be particularly dire, McEntee said, with total losses of $17.7 billion in California, and $14.6 billion in New York from 1997 through 2002. Under the plan Pennsylvania would lose $7.3 billion, Florida would lose $6.2 billion, and Missouri would lose $2.7 billion. In Missouri, sixy percent of the cuts, or $1.6 billion, would be made in the state's Medicaid program.
Cuts in funding for education and training would result in the loss of $3.8 billion in grants to school districts for basic skills training for disadvantaged children, and $2.4 billion in cuts to school lunch programs over the next six years. In California alone, McEntee said, $2.2 billion dollars would be slashed from the state's education and training budget over the next six years.
Similarly, a whopping $83 billion would be slashed from grants to states for their Medicaid programs, in many cases forcing seniors to exhaust their own savings before the entitlement to Medicaid benefits kicks in. In New York alone, Medicaid funding would be reduced by $11 billion over six years, leaving seniors without many of the vital Medicaid benefits they now receive.
McEntee also pointed out that key environmental programs -- including those regulating air and water pollution, and safe drinking water programs -- are also at risk, with two billion dollars slated to be cut from EPA grants to state and local governments through the year 2002.
"This study spells out that many vital state programs held sacred by taxpayers will suffer if the Congressional budget plan is enacted." McEntee said. "Most important, it shows in black-and-white terms what these cuts will mean to taxpayers who rely on the government's help in the things that matter most: educating their children, taking care of their elderly parents, and maintaining a clean and safe environment."
AFSCME, with more than 1.3 million members, is the nation's largest public employee and health care workers union.
To request a copy of this report showing the impact of the GOP budget plan in your state, please call the number listed above.
