Senate Democratic Budget Plan

Department of Defense

The bill includes a separate division for the Fiscal Year 2011 Defense Appropriations Act. The bill provides a total of $671.5 billion in base and overseas contingency operation funds. The base budget is $513.6 billion, which represents a $2.13 billion reduction to H.R. 1. The additional reductions are taken mainly in savings identified due to revised economic assumptions and a freeze in civilian pay. The defense bill also contains $157.8 billion for overseas contingency operations, the same amount as the House passed bill. In total, the defense budget is $17.3 billion less than the President's budget request, but still provides the authorized pay raise for military personnel, protects funding for the Defense Health Program, and supports force protection initiatives and the readiness accounts for our men and women in uniform.

Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The Senate bill provides $189 million more than the House bill for the border security agencies - Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Within that amount, the Senate bill provides $150 million more than the House bill for border security infrastructure and technology, providing our border patrol agents with the assets they need to help secure the northern and southern borders. Cuts to border technology made by the House bill would postpone for at least one year the procurement, construction and deployment of new Remote Video Surveillance Systems in Arizona. This new capability is identified by the Secretary as a high priority to address current threats;

National Domestic Preparedness Consortium

The House bill cuts funding for first responder weapons of mass destruction training through the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium by 51 percent, which will result in more than 46,000 first responders not being trained in FY 2011. Given the evolving threat of homegrown terrorism, such a deep cut is without merit. The Senate bill reduces the program by five percent;

Nuclear N onproliferation

In the Senate Bill, Nonproliferation would see a reduction of $360 million, or about 13 percent, below the FY 2011 request level. The House CR would have cut $648 million, or about 24 percent, from the FY 2011 request level. The House cut would undermine U.S. efforts to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials in 4 years

State/Foreign Operations

The Senate CR level for State/Foreign Operations of $50.15 billion is a reduction of $6.5 billion, or 11.5%, below the FY 2011 request level. The Senate CR level reflects a far more responsible approach than H.R. 1 to reducing programs below the FY 2011 request, and at the same time responds to the significant increase in funding requirements for the civilian component of the counter­insurgency strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the transition from military to civilian presence in Iraq. In addition, compared with H.R. 1, the Senate CR preserves U.S. leadership in key areas such as global health and child survival, providing $885 million more than H.R. 1 for life­saving health programs, and $1.1 billion more to respond to humanitarian crises. The Senate CR also provides $428 million more than H.R. 1 for clean energy technology and other global environment programs, and $200 million for the global food security fund to offset food shortages and famine, which H.R. 1 does not fund at all.

Department of Veterans Affairs

The discretionary funding level for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is $456 million, or 0.8%, below the FY 2011 request of $56.97 billion. This level includes $382 million in reductions and rescissions of unobligated balances in VA Information Technology and major construction accounts. The Senate CR includes an increase of $460 million for veterans disability claims processing, as provided in the House passed CR, to reduce the backlog of veterans disability claims.

I NN OVATIO   N A N D VITAL I N FRASTRUCTURE

N ASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funded at $18.5 Billion. This level is a reduction of $461 million, or 2.4 percent, below the FY 2011 request. A year of rethinking NASA's investments to ensure a portfolio balanced among science, aeronautics, technology and human space flight investments resulted in a NASA Authorization Act signed in October 2010. At this level, NASA will not be provided any funds for requested but new long­range space technology research activities that have the potential to lead to new discoveries and new technologies that could improve life on Earth. However, it avoids an additional $412 million cut by the House that would disrupt ongoing science missions and cause layoffs of 4,500 middle class contractors who provide landscaping, IT, janitorial, and other services for NASA centers.

National Science Foundation (N SF)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funded at $6.87 billion. This level is a reduction of $573 million, or 7.7 percent, below the FY 2011 request. In September, Norm Augustine and the National Academy of Sciences updated the 2005 "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" report. They sounded the alarm once more that the United States is losing ground and that the road to increased economic competitiveness is doubling investments in scientific research and development and bring us the discoveries that create the new products and new companies that can help America get back to work and back to competing with our friends around the world. This responsible cut is $284 million less than the planned House cut, saving approximately 480 research grants offering support to about 8,000 more scientists, technicians, teachers, and students.

NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) operations and research is funded at $3.2 billion. This is a reduction of $110 million, or 3 percent, below the FY 2011 request level. This funding level removes earmarks and requires the agency to cut administrative and overhead costs. The House cuts an additional $340 million which would threaten critical weather forecasts and warnings.

Army Corps of Engineers

$5.226 billion, approximately 0.15% of the total Federal budget, is provided for the Corps of Engineers. This is $287 million or 5.8% over the FY 2011 administration request. The average annual flooding damages prevented by projects funded through this bill over the last 10 years exceeds $22 billion annually. The damages prevented by the Corps' flood risk management projects have provided approximately $7 in benefits for every dollar invested over the last 75 years. Hydropower projects operated and maintained by funding provided in this bill generate more than $800 million in revenue to the Treasury annually and provide enough power for more than 6 million homes.

Bureau of Reclamation

$1.067 billion is provided for the Bureau of Reclamation. This is $20.3 million over the FY 2011 administration request. These water resource projects contribute to the national economy by providing irrigation water to 1 in every 5 western farmers (for about 10 million acres of irrigated land) and providing water to 31 million people for municipal, rural and industrial uses.

COMMON  SEN SE CUTS

Career Pathways Innovation Fund

The Senate CR eliminates funding in FY 2011 for the Career Pathways Innovation Fund. In addition, the bill rescinds $125 million in FY 2010 funding for this program - a reduction of $125 million below the President's request. The Career Pathways program is no longer necessary as mandatory funds are now available for a similar program - the newly created Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training Grant (TAACCC). Congress has provided $2 billion in mandatory funds over the next four years for the TAACCC.

Department of the Interior

Taking back surplus firefighting funds: The bill rescinds $600 million of surplus funds previously appropriated for fire suppression on federal lands. Because the last two fire seasons have been less severe than originally predicted, the bill is able to rescind these funds thereby saving taxpayers more than half a billion dollars. Even with this rescission, the Forest Service and the Interior Department firefighting teams will have slightly more than $2 billion at the ready for fighting fires this year, which is virtually the same as what is needed for severe fire seasons.

In addition, by rescinding these funds, the bill is able to forego the $162 million in cuts to basic operations at the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Fish & Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management contained in the House bill. By taking such a drastic level of cuts to the accounts that pay employee salaries, the House bill puts in jeopardy the jobs of 1,045 park rangers, forest rangers, law enforcement rangers, maintenance personnel. The loss of these jobs would result in the curtailment of operations and necessitate the closure of recreational facilities nationwide.

General Services Administration

While the House bill eliminates all funding for federal building construction and all major repairs for federal buildings in H.R.1, the Senate bill would permit continuation funding for multi­year, consolidation projects such as the headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security and the Food and Drug Administration complex;

While the House bill would negatively impact GSA's ability to provide analysis, data, and management for government­wide efforts to strengthen acquisition management and improve the quality and amount of Federal spending data available to the public, the Senate bill permits these improvements, providing critical resources in the areas of acquisition management and contracting reform. The Senate bill achieves these goals, while still reducing GSA programs by a total of approximately $1 billion below the FY 2011 requested levels.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (N HTSA)

The Senate cuts $76 million in unobligated balances from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) seat belt grant program. The seat belt grant program provides incentive grants to states that enact primary enforcement seatbelt laws. The grants have served as a very effective tool to dramatically reduce highway related fatalities. However, the program has maximized its achievements nationally and is no longer necessary. No additional states have enacted primary seat belt laws this year and none are anticipated for the foreseeable future. The President's FY 2012 recommends terminating this program and prioritizing other highway safety initiatives. The Senate bill rescinds the remaining unobligated balances from the terminated Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save program, also known as the Cash for Clunkers program administered by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Saving transit systems

The Senate bill cuts $150 million from a program that funds new or expanded transit service, while still protecting most of our national investments in public transportation. In comparison, the House bill would cut transit programs by more than $1 billion. The House bill would also eliminate competitive funding dedicated to fostering innovative approaches to making transit more energy efficient, efforts aimed at lowering transit costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Part II: Irresponsible Cuts Included in H.R. 1

The House CR makes cuts that would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, force hundreds of thousands more to take furloughs, and severely disrupt the functions of the government. These cuts will have reverberating adverse impacts on private sector jobs in a fragile economy. Many of the cuts would reduce spending today, but lead to greater costs in future years. These cuts are simply irresponsible, made in order to meet an arbitrary number used as part of a campaign promise. Examples of the harmful effects of the House CR follow:

FAILIN G TO PROTECT AMERICA'S VITAL IN TERESTS

Weapons Activities

The House CR would have cut $312 million, or about 4 percent, from the FY 2011 request level. These cuts would have put at risk the United States' ability to begin much needed investments in rebuilding our aging nuclear weapons infrastructure and meet the highest priority goals laid out in the Nuclear Posture Review. The Senate CR proposed level of funding will ensure a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear deterrent.

Frontline States: Afghanistan, Pakistan & Iraq

The devastating funding cuts in H.R. 1 undermine our ability to stabilize Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq and to support General Petraeus' counterinsurgency strategy. H.R. 1 provides $5.71 billion for Economic Support Fund (ESF), or 27.87 %, below the FY 2011 request level. These reductions will cripple efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and transition responsibility for U.S. operations in Iraq from the military to civilians.

Global Health Programs

H.R. 1 will curtail U.S. advances in global health, including President Bush's signature program, PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). (PEPFAR has been one of our most successful foreign aid initiatives, saving millions of lives. H.R. 1 provides $4.845 billion for PEPFAR, a reduction of $654 million, or 11.9%, below the FY 2011 request level. That will mean some 400,000 people will not receive life­saving anti­retroviral treatment and 300,000 orphans and children will not receive care and support. The cut will also mean that 100,000 women who would have received medication to prevent the transmission of HIV to their newborn children will not, and tens of thousands of babies will be born HIV positive.

Climate Change

H.R. 1 does not provide funding for the Climate Investment Funds, which is a reduction of $635 million below the FY 2011 request level. These funds support exports of clean energy technology, protect rainforests, and support efforts by countries to adapt to rising temperatures, water scarcity, and food shortages. Undermining our climate efforts threatens our national security. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mullen stated, climate change "could lead to failed states and make populations more vulnerable to radicalization."

Transit Security Grants

H.R. 1 would cut transit security grants by 66% despite the fact that there have been over 1,300 attacks, killing or injuring over 18,000 people worldwide on trains and subways over the last seven years. The Senate bill would maintain the $300 million FY 2010 level.

Port Security Grants

The House bill cuts port security grants by 66 percent, despite the fact that our ports produce over $3 trillion of economic activity and jobs for 13 million American workers and the Mumbai attacks proved the vulnerability of ports. The Senate bill would maintain the $300 million FY 2010 level.

FAILI N G TO I N VEST I N CRITICAL I N FRASTRUCTURE

Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds

The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds are formula grants to the states which capitalize low­interest and no­interest loans to our local communities to help them build and refurbish wastewater/sewer systems and drinking water systems. Most communities cannot afford these projects on their own and EPA's funding is vital if these projects are to get done.

Investing in significant transportation projects

The Senate CR protects $600 million for the TIGER program, a highly competitive program that funds transportation projects that make a significant contribution to the nation, a region, or a metropolitan area. Demand for this program has far outstripped the available resources, and grant applicants must use economic analysis to prove that their projects justify their costs. In comparison, the House CR would eliminate all funding for this program for FY 2011, and rescind every penny from the $600 million provided for the program in FY 2010. Because the Department of Transportation has already awarded the FY 2010 funding, the House proposal will take funding away from 75 projects in 40 states across the country. Based on information from the Department of Transportation, cutting $1.2 billion from the TIGER program will put 33,360 jobs at risk.

Department of Energy, Office of Science and Advanced Research Projects Agency­Energy (ARPA­E)

The Office of Science and ARPA­E would see a reduction of $523 million, or about 10 percent, below the FY 2011 request level.

Community Development Block Grant

The House CR cuts the Community Development Block Grant by $2.5 billion or 62% below both the FY2010 enacted level and the FY2011 request--this represents the lowest level of funding this program would ever receive. CDBG is provided to states and communities through a needs­based formula to address the housing and economic development needs in their communities. The $3.99 billion provided in the Senate CR will create or support over 100,000 jobs.

Economic Development Administration

The House funds the Economic Development Administration at $213 million. This is a cut of $73 million, or 25 percent, below the FY 2011 request level. This means up to 57 fewer construction and infrastructure projects for community economic development projects in distressed communities.

FAILIN G TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN

Head Start

The House Republican CR cuts over $1 billion from the Head Start program compared to the FY10 enacted level, which provides comprehensive early childhood services--education, nutrition, health, social, and emotional development--to nearly one million low­income children and their families. The House bill would eliminate those services for about 218,000 children and their families next year (an almost 25 percent reduction), close 16,000 Head Start classrooms, and lay off 55,000 teachers, teacher assistants and related staff. The Senate bill provides $7.57 billion for Head Start (over $1.4 billion more than the House Republican CR), which is enough to maintain the number of children currently in Head Start classrooms and prevent any job losses.

Community Health Centers

The House Republican CR cuts discretionary funding for community health centers by $1 billion compared to the FY10 enacted level, preventing any new clinics from opening, eliminating funding for 127 clinics currently operating in 38 States and reducing current services at another 1,096 centers nation­wide. More than 2.8 million people would likely lose access to their current primary care provider and over 5,000 health center staff could lose their jobs. The Senate bill restores the $1 billion cut, preserving both the vital services being provided today and the planned expansion of centers estimated to treat over 7.5 million new patients this year.

Child Care

The House Republican CR cuts $40 million from the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) compared to the FY10 enacted level, just as child care funding provided in the 2009 Recovery Act is coming to an end. The House CR would eliminate child care subsidies for about 165,000 low­income children, significantly reducing the availability and affordability of quality child care for low­income families. These are families that are working, or in some cases looking for work, and that depend on those subsidies to do so. The Senate bill provides $2.44 billion for the CCDBG, $350 million more than the House Republican bill.

FAILI N G TO SUPPORT STUDE N TS A N D SE N IORS

Title I grants to school districts

The House Republican CR slashes Title I funding by nearly $700 million, meaning 2,400 schools serving 1 million disadvantaged students could lose funding, and approximately 10,000 teachers and aides could lose their jobs. The Senate bill, by contrast, would increase funding for Title I by $100 million, for a total of $14.6 billion, or $794 million more than HR 1. The Title I grants program is the foundation of federal assistance to elementary and secondary schools across the country, providing financial assistance to more than 90 percent of the nation's school districts.

Social Security

The House Republican CR cuts funding for the Social Security Administration's administrative expenses by $125 million below the FY 2010 enacted level. This would force the SSA to freeze hiring across the agency and possibly furlough employees, at a time when the number of Americans filing for disability and retirement benefits is at record levels. As a result, every American filing benefits this year would wait longer for the benefits they've earned, backlogs of those with pending disability claims and hearings would increase significantly, and waiting times at field offices and SSA's 1­800 number would jump dramatically. The Senate bill, by contrast, provides $600 million more than the House Republican proposal (including rescissions). Compared to the House CR, it will allow SSA to process about 300,000 more initial disability claims and 150,000 more disability hearings, and prevent delays in beneficiaries receiving their retirement benefits.

Student Aid

The House Republican CR slashes the maximum annual Pell Grant award by $845 to $4,705, a 15 percent cut below the current maximum of $5,550. This would have a devastating impact on the roughly 8 million needy students that qualify for the maximum award - nearly 90 percent of whom come from families making less than $40,000 a year. The Republican bill also eliminates Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), which provide up to $4,000 in grant assistance each year to 1.3 million needy students. The Senate CR, by contrast, maintains the maximum Pell award level of $5,550. It also maintains the $757 million for the SEOG program. Combined with matching funds provided by colleges and universities, this level of funding for SEOG will make available nearly $1 billion in financial aid.

FAILIN G TO PROTECT CON SUMERS

Agriculture/FDA

The House CR not only includes draconian cuts to specific programs, it also includes a rescission of unspecified obligations by the amount of $585 million from the Department of Agriculture. These unnamed cuts are on top of rescissions the House already took in specific programs leaving USDA the task of taking cuts from ongoing programs that have already been cut to unsustainable levels.

The House CR cuts FDA by $242 million (10%) below fiscal year 2010. This would result in large­scale reductions of domestic and foreign inspections of food and drug manufacturers, including 2,000 fewer inspections of food and medical product firms, 10,000 fewer import inspections, and 6,000 fewer laboratory sample analyses of food and medical products. Essentially, the ability of the Agency to ensure that America has the safest supply of food and medical products in the world would be diminished.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

H.R. 1 drastically shortchanges the needs of the CFTC by rolling its resources back to $112 million (nearly the FY08 level). The House Republican level is $149M (57%) below the FY11 President's request of $261M.

The Consequences:

Patent and Trademark Office

The House provides $189 million less in fees from the Patent and Trademark Office than the Senate's $2.2 billion. Currently, it takes PTO nearly 3 years to process a patent application. The backlog of applications stands at over 700,000. Some progress has been made in this area, but the House's failure to accelerate PTO reforms may stifle efforts to shrink PTO's backlog.

Extraneous Policy Provisions

In addition to the irresponsible spending decisions included in the House CR, there are a number of provisions that are purely political, meant to score points or placate supporters. Such language has no place in a bill that is necessary to keep the government operating, and therefore is not included in the Senate version. Examples of excluded provisions include:

Ban on Funds for a Publicly­Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database

H.R. 1 prohibits funds for a publicly available and searchable consumer database that was a key part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The database is critically important and will be of immense value to consumers, allowing them to report harm (or risk of harm) associated with consumer products, and to research risks associated with particular products. It will also help CPSC to identify trends in product hazards much more quickly and efficiently. CPSC has invested $3 million to complete the database and it is officially set to launch on March 11. The rider prevents CPSC from launching and maintaining the database. Without the CPSC database, the agency will be forced to continue its outdated and inefficient method of searching a variety of "silos" for emerging product hazard trends. This will result in a waste of CPSC resources.

Climate Change

H.R. 1 contains language (Section 1746) the prohibits EPA from spending funds to issue or enforce greenhouse gas regulations or implement a host of other greenhouse gas related programs, including renewable fuels mandates, greenhouse gas reporting and energy efficiency programs.

Clean Water

H.R. 1 contains language (Section 1747) that would prevent EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing or enforcing new guidance regarding which water bodies in the United States are protected under the Clean Water Act.

Planned Parenthood

H.R. 1 includes an amendment to prohibit federal funds from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any of its affiliates.

Healthcare Reform

H.R. 1 includes nine amendments to defund various aspects of President Obama's health care law, effectively blocking the administration from carrying out the planned health system overhaul.

Southwest Border

Prohibits regulations requiring licensed gun dealers to report multiple sales of two or more assault weapons to the same person, limiting efforts to reduce deadly violence along the Southwest border.

Foreign Affairs

H.R. 1 includes an amendment that prohibits funds for the design, renovation, construction, or rental of any headquarters for the United Nations in any location in the United States and amendment that prohibits funds for contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Limitation on Funds for White House "Czars"

H.R. 1 precludes funding to employ assistants to the President for Climate Change, Health Care Reform. This continues the Republican objection to President Obama's use of "czars" for coordinating policy across government and intentionally hamstrings the White House on interagency coordination of two signature policy areas - health care reform and climate change. This would be an intrusive micromanagement of the President's White House staff via Appropriations.