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LEGISLATIVE ALERT3/8/2011Call Your Senators Today to Urge Them to Protect Funding for Programs Serving Vulnerable Children and Families by Opposing the House CR and Supporting the Senate SubstituteThis week the Senate is expected to hold two votes on competing budget plans for the remainder of the fiscal year. There is a more than $50 billion baseline difference between the two proposals, and funding levels for a number of critical programs serving vulnerable children and families are at risk. Take a moment TODAY to call your senators to tell let them to OPPOSE the House-passed budget plan and to SUPPORT the Senate substitute proposal.
ACTION REQUIRED
Call your U.S. Senators. To be connected with your senators, dial 888-340-6521.
THE MESSAGE
Protect resources for programs dedicated to serving vulnerable child and families by opposing the House-passed version of H.R. 1 and supporting the Senate substitute proposal.
BACKGOUND
On February 19, the House passed H.R. 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011. This bill would cut more than $60 billion from current federal spending levels, with many of the cuts coming from critical social service programs. Last week, the Senate crafted its own plan and this week the full Senate is expected to vote on both the House and Senate proposals. While neither is expected to receive the 60 votes necessary for passage, the votes will signal which plan has the upper hand and will impact further negotiations on a settlement. For this reason it is important to contact your senators and urge them to support the Senate proposal.
There is a $51 billion difference separating the House and Senate budget plans and serious policy differences must be overcome as well. Generally, the Senate plan is much more protective of funding for programs dedicated to vulnerable children and families. For example, the Senate bill includes more than $1.4 billion more than the House for Head Start, which is the difference between 218,000 children having access to the program or not. In addition, compared to the House bill, the Senate version provides an additional $1 billion for community health centers, $349 million for child care, $348 million for nutrition assistance to low-income pregnant mothers and their children, $317 million for family planning, $214 million for substance abuse and mental health programs, and $141 million for home energy assistance for low-income families. From a policy perspective, the House bill would defund and block implementation of the health reform law and prohibit funding for Planned Parenthood, while the Senate plan would not.
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