Proposals for the next federal budget appeared in the outline set forth in the recently passed budget reconciliation bill. In addition to those, the Trump administration is reported to be planning to submit some “recission” bills to Congress.
These are bills that reverse promised spending. Finally, the President’s use of executive orders and the actions of Elon Musk’s budget-cutters have frozen or cut other programs.
If enacted, many of these will be visible to all of us, and affect the services on which we depend. Closing Social Security offices, at least one of which is in New Hampshire, will deprive citizens of one of the most user-friendly government services, explaining very complex rules about benefits most all Americans will use at some point in their lives. Cutting IRS employees may delay refunds (and audits). Cutting staff at National Parks undoubtedly will be visible to those enjoying our natural wonders.
Three of the threatened actions have gotten my attention lately, due to their convergence with other activities.
The first is the virtual elimination of the AmeriCorps program when the Trump administration placed a majority of the employees on leave and proposed eliminating its budget. One of the AmeriCorps programs visible in New Hampshire is City Year, a program that just celebrated its 25th anniversary with a gala in Manchester.
This program, one of many nationwide, employs young people taking a gap year from their studies to serve in Manchester schools, adding needed personnel to help students improve their reading, math and other skills.
Cutting off this program, and those like it across the country, would deprive education for many helped by the 200,000 Americans who annually participate at over 35,000 locations.
The New Hampshire congressional delegation participated in the recent event, supporting City Year. Hopefully, their counterparts from all 50 states will join them in recognizing the good done by this program and vote to preserve it.
Even more visible (or in one case audible) are the services of those benefitting from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (CPB). That is the entity, partially funded by the federal budget, that supplies support for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio.
In New Hampshire, that means New Hampshire Public Radio (NPR) and NHPBS television. While the support provided by federal dollars by no means is a majority of the funds that maintain PBS and NPR and the local affiliates, it is key to the ability to provide programming.
Funds from CPB primarily go in the form of grants to local stations, and the stations in turn have money to purchase programming from the providers who produce that programming. The administration has proposed rescinding the already-appropriated current financing, which poses an immediate issue were Congress to pass the recission proposal.
The first Trump administration tried to eliminate funding, as well as have other administrations, assumedly due to the reputation of NPR as “liberal” media. Those efforts have thus far failed, due to the popularity of the local affiliates among elected officials of both parties.
The public broadcast entities have stations we seldom hear, which serve target audiences like elementary and secondary schools or provide other educational services. Their towers and broadcast facilities provide infrastructure for emergency broadcast networks, police and fire departments and state agencies.
Cutting or eliminating the relatively tiny expenditure in the huge federal budget will have ramifications in many areas not commonly understood.
Other visible services threatened by governmental cuts rumored or proposed include affordable housing, veterans services, environmental protection, health research, scholarly research and other things that have made the U.S. the leader in so many fields. Such cuts would make our country a very different place.
Clearly, there is a need to get government spending under control, to cut budget deficits as part of a plan to balance the budget.
This needs to be done in a coordinated way by Congress and the executive branch. This process must include an examination of what government does and how it does it.
Some decisions will be unpopular with various constituencies. These facts have to be taken into account when advocating for programs like those listed above. However, the total cost of the programs listed is a rounding error in the federal budget. Unfortunately, it is the big stuff where real savings are to be found.
Also, unfortunately, cutting spending and finding real “fraud and abuse” are not going to balance the federal budget. More revenue will be needed, too: taxes.
Anybody want to run for Congress?
Brad Cook is a Manchester attorney. The views expressed in this column are his own. He can be reached at bradfordcook01@gmail.com.
