The Bush Budget Would Cut Programs to Aid Children
As part of his budget, which is scheduled to be released next
month, President Bush intends to cut programs to provide child
care, early learning opportunities, child abuse prevention and
treatment services, and training to doctors at children's hospitals
(The New York Times, March 23, 2001).
President Bush's budget cuts the Child Care and Development
Block Grant. The President's budget would reduce funding for the
Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal
program that enables states to help families afford child care and
improve state child care programs, by $200 million. Child care
funding is a vital component of welfare reform. In fact, President
Bush's own Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Tommy Thompson, has said that the federal government needs to
invest in support services to successfully move families off welfare.
In cutting child care services, the President undermines welfare
reform by eliminating the support services needed to remove
families from the welfare rolls.
The President's budget plan would eliminate funding for early
learning programs. Early learning experiences help young
children build their language and literacy skills so they can begin
school ready to read and succeed. Each year, millions of children
enter kindergarten unprepared for school, and before the first
lesson is taught are already behind their peers. The President's
budget would eliminate all of the funding, $20 million, that
Congress provided for an "early learning fund" to help parents and
child care providers learn how to provide developmentally
appropriate learning opportunities for children younger than five
years-old.
President Bush's budget plan would reduce funding for child abuse prevention
programs. Federal data indicate that nearly 900,000 children are victims of abuse or
neglect each year (based on reports of cases investigated and confirmed by the states).
President Bush's budget would reduce funding of child abuse prevention programs
such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) grants that cover the
costs of monitoring child abuse cases and the reporting system, by $15.7 million or 18
percent.
The President's budget plan cuts medical programs that serve the most acutely
ill children. Last year, Congress provided $235 million for a new program to train
pediatricians and other doctors at children's hospitals across the country; President
Bush now intends to cut these funds.
Democrats offer a plan that assists working parents and their children. In an
effort to assist working families, Democrats support an agenda that includes:
- A fair, responsible tax cut. Under the Democratic budget plan, all those who
pay income taxes would benefit from the new 10 percent tax bracket. In order
to ease the marriage penalty, the standard deduction for married couples would
be increased and set to twice that of single filers.
- Measures to strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The
Democratic plan would make three substantial improvements to the EITC in
order to ensure that those with families who pay payroll taxes also receive a tax
cut. First, the plan would increase the amount of the EITC by $272 for families
with one child and $320 for families with two or more children. Second, the
Democratic plan would address the marriage penalty in the EITC by increasing
the income level at which the credits begin to phase out for married couples
with two children. These two changes would provide a tax cut of more than
$840 for qualifying families. Finally, the plan would significantly simplify the
EITC by eliminating the complicated income calculations and work sheets.
Instead, eligible families would only need to complete three or four lines on their
tax form in order to receive the credit.
- Investment in effective education and child care programs. These
investments would provide working poor families, adults attempting to exit the
welfare system, and those individuals most vulnerable to an economic
downturn with the help they need to secure a better future. Supporting all
children means making Head Start and other early childhood learning programs
accessible to every pre-school aged child and ensuring that older children have
safe environments to engage in supplemental learning and recreation during
after-school hours.
President Bush's budget plan fails to deliver on his promises of rewarding the efforts of
working families and leaving no child behind. Instead, President Bush hurts working
parents and their children by ignoring their needs and priorities in his budget plan.
