Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today said he is very concerned about President Bush’s budget proposal, which calls for cuts in health care, certain education programs, law enforcement and other initiatives important to New Mexico. 

“I cannot support his budget proposal. In my view, it does a poor job of laying out what our nation’s priorities should be. I believe that when Congress prepares its own budget blueprint in the coming weeks, it will give health care, education, law enforcement and other important initiatives a boost over what the president has proposed,” Bingaman said. 

President Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposal includes devastating cuts of $200 billion to health care programs. Specifically, the Bush administration is proposing $178 billion in cuts to the Medicare program, which primarily provides health care to senior citizens and the disabled. In addition to cuts in benefits, Bush’s Medicare proposal includes billions of dollars in premium increases to seniors and others as well as tens-of-billions of dollars in payment cuts to home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, hospices, long term care hospitals, ambulance services, and ambulatory surgical centers. 

The Bush administration also proposes nearly $18 billion in cuts over five years to the Medicaid program, which provides healthcare to low-income children, seniors, pregnant women and others. These cuts would include across-the-board restrictions on payments to safety-net providers that could result in New Mexico losing a hundred million dollars or more in Medicaid funding annually. 

Similarly, the president proposes federal spending levels for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) far below the levels passed by Congress last year and that would result in thousands of children throughout the nation remaining uninsured. SCHIP is a state/federal health care initiative serving low-income families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Citing to an August 17 directive, the president’s proposal also would restrict the ability of states to receive SCHIP funding for a large segment of children currently enrolled in the program. 

The Bush administration also would dramatically reduce or eliminate funding for a broad range of programs that are critical to the public health infrastructure of New Mexico and the nation. Such cuts include a $252 million (69 percent) reduction in the funding available to support health professionals working in rural and underserved communities; a $150 million (87 percent) reduction in rural health grants, $21 million (56 percent) reduction in payments for the Indian Health Service to build and improve healthcare facilities, and a total cut in funding for payments to physicians training in Children’s Hospitals, prevention health and health services grants, the Patient Navigator program, and traumatic brain injury services. The proposal would result in the loss to New Mexico of millions of dollars of public health funding. 

“Our nation’s health care problems are growing, and because of the economic downturn families are really feeling the pinch. This is a very bad time to be making deep cuts in our health care infrastructure,” Bingaman said. 

Bingaman also expressed concern that the Bush administration proposes to eliminate the already under-funded urban Indian health program, which provides critical funding to First Nations in Albuquerque as well as many other urban Indian health programs. 

With regard to education, Bingaman said he is disappointed the president’s FY09 budget fails to address our nation’s needs. For instance, while the education budget proposes small increases for some programs, it pays for them by eliminating funding for 48 programs – including many Bingaman has championed: smaller learning communities initiatives, education technology grants, as well as career and technical education programs, arts in education, and Even Start. 

The budget proposes to underfund the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by $14.7 billion, for a cumulative shortfall of $85.6 billion since enactment of the law. Under the president’s budget, funding for Title I of NCLB, the largest source of federal funding for economically disadvantaged students, would shortchange New Mexico by more than $87 million, leaving more than 24,000 students without promised services. The president’s budget also provides the lowest level of support to states for the costs of special education since 2002, providing only 17 percent of the promised 40 percent. 

By eliminating funding for career and technical education programs, the president’s budget would cut more than $9.8 million in funding from New Mexico. It also significantly cuts funding for teacher quality, after school programs, and safe and drug free schools. 

“I remain disappointed by the White House’s the lack of commitment to the No Child Left Behind Act and other key education initiatives,” Bingaman said. “I hope that Congress rejects this education proposal and ends up providing more funding for education.” 

Finally, Bingaman said he cannot support the president’s budget as it relates to law enforcement. The president’s budget slashes critical funding for law enforcement and justice programs by about 65 percent, cutting funding from $2.314 billion in FY08 to $813 million in FY09. The programs proposed to be eliminated include: State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), Drug Courts, Meth Hot Spots Program, and Bullet-Proof Vests Grants, among others. 

The COPS program, which has been instrumental in providing local police the resources they need to fight crime in New Mexico, is slated to be cut by over 99 percent, from $587 million to $4 million. The budget also proposes to reduce funding to combat violence against women by 30 percent, from $400 million to $280 million.