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Issue #7: February 4, 2010 | |||||||||||||
| President Obama's FY 2011 Budget Request: President Obama released the details of his Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal on February 1. The $3.8 trillion budget would add $1.6 trillion to the federal debt as the Administration seeks to spur economic growth, create new jobs while holding down spending for many programs. The budget proposes a three year freeze on discretionary spending except those programs related to defense and security. Under the discretionary program freeze, some programs would grow, many would be frozen at current levels, and a significant number would be consolidated or eliminated.
Medicaid. The President’s budget includes $25.5 billion to extend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) temporary increase to the federal share of Medicaid spending (known as the federal medical assistance percentage or FMAP) for six months (Jan 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011). The ARRA increase will expire on December 31, 2010. An extension is needed because states are continuing to experience significant deficits due to the economic recession. Congress must pass legislation that includes this increase. The House of Representatives included this increase in its jobs bill which passed in December. The DPC is working with other Medicaid stakeholders to secure swift passage of this extension. Demonstration Projects. The budget proposal also includes new Medicaid and Medicare demonstration projects aimed at evaluating reforms to provide higher quality care at lower costs. Another proposal would fund the Year of Community Living Initiative to promote collaboration between the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development to expand access to housing and community supports to enable people with disabilities to live in the community as opposed to in institutional settings. Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. The Autism and Other Developmental Disability program at the Health Resources and Services Administration supports early detection and intervention, training and research programs. It received a $7 million increase over FY 2010 funding. IDEA. The IDEA State Grant would receive a $250 million increase over the previous fiscal year, after disregarding the additional funding made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding for IDEA. Ten percent ($25 million) of the increase would be reserved for the states to meet IDEA’s data collection requirements.Both the IDEA Preschool and Part C Early Intervention programs would be frozen. The expiration of the stimulus funding for the Early Intervention program, coupled with frozen FY 2011 funds, would put several states at risk of eliminating this critical program. All but one of the IDEA National Activities programs (State Personnel Development, Technical Assistance and Dissemination, Personnel Preparation and Parent Information Centers) would be frozen. The other program, Technology and Media Services, would actually be reduced by almost $3 million. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grant Program. This program provides funding to state vocational rehabilitation agencies to support rehabilitation and employment efforts including providing assessments, pre-vocational training, assistive technology, job placement and follow-along services to assist in job retention. Similar to the unsuccessful Bush Administration proposals, the Obama Administration is proposing to consolidate into Title 1 the following programs: Supported Employment State Grant, the Projects with Industry, the Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers and the funds currently provided to State VR agencies to support in-service training for agency personnel under the training program. Of the $57 million dollar proposed Title 1 increase, $55 million is the combined funding for the consolidated programs. New VR and Related Programs. The Obama Administration did propose new programs including almost $7million for technical assistance and projects designed to improve VR program performance. A new Supported Employment Extended Services for Youth with Significant Disabilities program which would provide $25 million for competitive grants to help states expand supported employment for youth. Funds would be used to maintain individuals in supported employment after receiving services provided by the VR State Grants Program. The Administration is also seeking $30 million to support a partnership with the Department of Labor to encourage innovation and support projects to improve services and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Department of Labor (DOL) Social Security Administration (SSA) Economic Stimulus Payment. The Obama Administration has also proposed a second one-time economic recovery payment of $250 for eligible Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veteran’s Affairs, Railroad Retirement Board and government pension beneficiaries. Key Disability Programs This table compares the FY 2010 funding and the President's FY 2011 Budget Request for key disability programs Next Steps Cabinet Secretaries will be making the rounds of House and Senate hearings on the budget for the next few weeks. At some point, likely in late February or early March, the House and Senate Budget Committees will begin crafting the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Resolution (BR). The BR, once adopted by the Congress, will serve as the blueprint which the Appropriations Committees will use to make program by program spending decisions. |
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