Trump budget could put strain on local organizations

Cuts in funding might impact several local agencies and taxpayer-supported programs if President Donald Trump’s proposed budget is passed by Congress unchanged.

Last year, Meals on Wheels of Chester County delivered to, and fed, 91,000 seniors, a 24 percent increase over the previous year.

With Trump’s proposed budget, much of the funding sources for the program might be completely axed or decreased.

“At this point we don’t know the effect,” said Jeani D. Purcell, director of Meals on Wheels of

Chester County. “We don’t know how it will hurt us, but we will definitely feel it.”

Seventeen percent of Chester County residents are 60 years of age or older. It costs about $1,000 per year to feed each of 700 clients through the mostly volunteer-led organization.

“If the contract gets cut we’ve got to find the difference; we have to make up the difference with private funding and that’s not easy,” Purcell said.

The proposed budget also includes a sharp decrease in funding from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services where the Older American Act Programs are housed, according to a press release from Michelle Grasso, director of Development and communications for Meal on Wheels in Lehigh County.

A Community Services Block Grant, through the HHS, might also be cut.

Additional funding sources include the Older Americans Act and funding from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Meals on Wheels delivers more than food.

“We’re there as a safety check, with a friendly smile. There are times when a volunteer needs to call 911,” Purcell said.

Public Radio and television might take a major financial hit with Trump’s proposed budget.

Bill Marrazzo, president of WHYY, said the radio and TV station received $2.6 million in federal funding last year, or 7 percent of its budget.

Much of that was used for electricity and overhead. Marrazzo said this is a “hard to come by” this type of funding.

A possible loss of federal funds could increase the number of stations in the margin — or walking along a cliff, the president said.

“Without federal support, they may go dark,” he said.

Marrazzo said proposed cuts would be especially difficult because listeners and watchers could lose service and it would be “harder and harder” for the remaining stations to fund programming.

Sixty-five percent of WHYY’s budget is collected through fundraising, from tens of thousands of subscribers.

“We would have to work even harder to be able to continue to grow and produce regional programing,” Marrazzo said.

Delaware County Executive Director Marianne Grace said that it is still a “little premature” for the county to react to any proposed budget cuts.

“We’ll see where things settle,” she said. “Most of our funding comes from the state.”

Last year, the county received $3.5 million of federal Community Development Block Grants.

“We’re watching it,” she said, about the budget process. “We want to continue the level of services.”

Chester County received almost $2.3 million of Community Development Block Grants for 2016. The county has not yet received 2017 grant funding.

The following are organizations funded through 2016 federal grants: Chester County Community Dental in Coatesville; Chester County Food Bank in East Brandywine; Coatesville, Kennett and Downingtown area senior centers; La Comunidad Hispana in Kennett Square; Oxford Neighborhood Services and Parkesburg Point.

2017 CDBGs will finance the following Chester County organizations and projects: Borough of Phoenixville Main Street Trestle, for $280,000; Coatesville Blocks Improvement, for $300,000; the Housing Partnership of Chester County Inc., for Housing Rehabilitation Program, at $150,000 and Valley Township Sucker Run Stream Bank Stabilization, for $120,000.

Montgomery County receives nearly $3 million in Community Development Block Grant funding each year, which is utilized to support municipal projects to improve the community and services to support the homeless.

“These funds can be used for housing rehabilitation, economic development, public facilities improvements, home ownership projects, and services to support the homeless, such as shelters and case management services,” Lorie Slass, director of communications said in an email. “The loss of this funding will result in the elimination of these community improvement projects and reduce support for our homeless and shelter system.”

As part of a Monday press release, U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7, said that “budgets are about priorities, and the budget request (recently) submitted to Congress reflects a different set of priorities than the ones I’ve set.”

While the budget includes $500 million of additional funding to combat the opioid crisis, more funding for veterans’ health care and replacement for a V-22 Osprey aircraft lost in combat in Yemen, Meehan said he also has some “serious concerns.”

“(The proposed Trump budget) reduces funding for the National Institutes of Health,” Meehan said. “It includes significant cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, which may hamper its ability to protect our air and drinking water. And it cuts federal protection for national parks and federal lands by 75 percent, which could endanger conservation efforts in Pennsylvania at sites like Gettysburg National Military Park.

“Ultimately, I expect Congress will take the White House’s request into consideration – but the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse,” Meehan said. “As the budget process continues, I’ll keep on fighting to ensure we’re both making good use of taxpayer dollars and funding the services and programs important to Pennsylvania families.”

“Ultimately, I expect Congress will take the White House’s request into consideration – but the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse.” — U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7