Trump Budget Proposal Would Slash Investments in Anti-Poverty Programs, Shift Costs to Maryland
The budget proposal President Trump released this week threatens the economic and social well-being of low- and moderate-income Marylanders. The budget slashes important anti-poverty programs that help more than 1 million of our neighbors meet basic living standards. It shrinks important investments in our economy, like protecting the Chesapeake Bay and creating new innovations in medicine by funding research. At the same time, it gives new tax breaks to the wealthy and powerful.
The President’s proposed budget would also shift massive costs to Maryland at a time when policymakers here are already struggling to invest in education, transportation, and other services we all rely on. Rather than taking away opportunities from people who are working hard to get back on their feet, we need strong new investments in families and communities.
The following are just a few examples of the ways this budget proposal would harm Maryland families and our economy. As Congress prepares to advance its own budget plans, Maryland’s delegation must not simply oppose the Trump budget. They must oppose any Congressional budget plan that follows the same architecture. They must oppose cuts to assistance that helps millions of Americans achieve a basic living standard. They must oppose cuts to investments in long-run economic growth and basic public services. And, they must oppose massive tax breaks for the nation’s wealthiest.
Health Care
The proposed budget only adds to the drastic cuts to the Medicaid program proposed in the House health bill, cutting state Medicaid funding by an average of 12 percent over the next decade. The House health bill already cuts an estimated $14 billion in funding from Maryland over the next 10 years.
About 1.3 million Marylanders currently rely on Medicaid to be able to access health care. While it’s not yet clear how many people would lose health coverage as a result, such a dramatic reduction in funding for Medicaid would surely cause many thousands of people to lose coverage.
In addition, the Trump budget plan reduces support for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which ensures children from low-income families can get health care, by 19 percent from budget year 2017 to 2018. Maryland’s budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 includes $319 million in federal CHIP funding.
Food assistance
In an average month, about 687,000 Marylanders, including 1 in 5 children in the state, receive help affording enough food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Currently, the federal government provides this essential support to ensure that Americans don’t go hungry. The President’s budget plan would shift about 25 percent of the costs to states, meaning Maryland would need to make up about $275 million of the approximately $1.1 billion in federal funds it receives for SNAP.
With most states, including Maryland, remaining cash-strapped in the years since the recession, making up such a large amount of money would present a significant challenge. If policymakers chose to close the gap by changing who is eligible for assistance, we could see more Maryland families going hungry.
Housing and Community Development
Put bluntly, the Trump budget would put us on a path toward higher rates of homelessness. It would eliminate 5,500 housing vouchers, which help Maryland families keep a roof over their heads, ensuring they pay no more rent they can afford at their income level. This program already has long waiting lists throughout Maryland – we need greater investment, not less.
In addition, it eliminates the Community Development Block Grant, a flexible program that helps local governments expand the availability of affordable housing, create jobs, stabilize neighborhoods and improve overall quality of life in communities. In all, the President’s budget proposal would cut $97 million from Maryland’s affordable housing and community development programs.
Education
The Trump budget eliminates seven K-12 education grants and deeply cuts one more, which received $4.2 billion in funding on the national level in the 2017 budget year. These grants support teacher professional development, class size reduction, before- and after-school programming for low-income students, advanced academic and enrichment programs, and literacy instruction. The budget also eliminates or cuts higher education financial aid programs totaling $1.2 billion per year and calls for legislation cutting mandatory financial aid funding by $143 billion over 10 years.
Overall, it appears that federal education investment in Maryland would decline by $65 million, about 11 percent of what the state receives today. It is already clear that Maryland needs to invest much more in its schools to ensure equal opportunity for all students. A sharp reduction in federal investment would be a step backward for our students.
Other programs
The budget would eliminate the Chesapeake Bay Program. While that only cuts $8 million directly from Maryland’s budget, a clean Bay is essential to Maryland’s seafood and tourism industries, as well as the health and quality of life for Maryland residents.
It also proposes eliminating the Appalachian Regional Commission, which helps provide economic development opportunities in Western Maryland. Maryland’s 2018 budget includes $20 million in federal funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission.
