The working draft of proposed spending cuts to the Senate stimulus bill, obtained by TPMDC, offers a valuable guide to the agencies and programs that are in line for a trim by the time the legislative process is concluded.
The list is constantly changing — and as an aide to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) told me, now comes closer to $100 billion in cuts. Senate Democratic leaders suggested during a press briefing this afternoon that they were open to making targeted cuts, although Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) opened his remarks by saying that every $100 billion “we lop off” the bill represents jobs left un-created and un-filled.
Among the areas being eyed for cuts by the centrists, here are the most notable and/or controversial:
– Byrne Justice Assistance Grants are being considered for cuts as high as $1.2 billion, or 60% of the funding included in the stimulus. These grants are intended to help localities with law enforcement expenses that range from hiring to equipment buying. The National Criminal Justice Association estimates that 75% of the stimulus cash for Byrne would go to job creation, but the program has been plagued by scandal in the past; most notably in Tulia, Texas, where an ACLU investigation found Byrne money being used to keep dozens of African-American residents in jail based on the testimony of a single racist officer.
– A $5.5 billion surface transportation grant program that could provide sorely needed help to local mass transit programs would be eliminated entirely, according to the working draft of Senate centrist cuts. More on the potential value of that grant program can be found here.
– A $5.2 billion cut in prevention and wellness aid is being discussed, including trims in HIV testing and smoking cessation. The direct economic effect of this spending is debatable, but one thing isn’t: cutting these programs would mean that Democrats are getting rid of the exact items that Republicans have harped on as wasteful spending — even as they criticize the GOP for making a mountain out of a stimulus molehill. Still, as Senate Democratic Vice Chairman Chuck Schumer (NY) acknowledged to reporters this afternoon about the spending items being blasted by Republicans: “Many of them I’d support, and many of them I’d take out.”
– IDEA and Title I education funding are in line for cuts that could exceed $13 billion, or more than 50% of the levels in the original stimulus bill. IDEA is the federal system of funding special education, and Title I money would go partly to economically disadvantaged areas where education aid is needed to prevent teacher layoffs that Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said could reach into the hundreds of thousands. Two good articles on the local impact of that aid can be found here as well as here. The House education committee also has a helpful site that allows you to check how the potentially sliced education aid could benefit your own local school district.
