Valley lawmakers concerned over funding
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017/2018 that was announced by Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Monday was scrutinized warily by Imperial County lawmakers Tuesday.
The $4.1 trillion budget includes substantial cuts to the poor yet large increases to the Pentagon and border spending. It would add $469 billion to defense spending over 10 years and another $2.6 billion for border security technology.
Meanwhile Trump’s budget slashes Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by $616 billion over the next decade along with $38 billion cut from farm subsidies, $143 billion cut from student loans, $191 billion cut from food stamps and $22 billion cut from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also over the next decade, according to the Associated Press in an online post.
Expressing umbrage, Rep. Juan Vargas (D-51st) noted in an email, the budget undermines millions of hard-working Americans. “It would be devastating to our community,” he said. “Slashing Medicaid and cutting programs that assist families who are struggling to make ends meet goes against our values as a nation. A budget proposal that funds an ineffective border wall strips funding for programs that prioritize the well-being of our nation’s children, seniors and families and sidelines American innovation and job creation is a budget I will never support.” Imperial County District 1 Supervisor John Renison noted cuts are not likely to be as big as proposed, yet the above proposed cuts are an ominous threat to residents who depend on support.
“It’s important to fund the Phase II of the Port of Entry that will build out the 10 lanes coming from Mexicali to 16 as well as restore social programs and we expect 100 percent support from our representatives,” he said. “Port of Entry Phase II is important not only for security but for commerce as those long lines are costing millions of dollars each month in lost wages and time.”
Trump’s budget is clearly on municipal radar remarked El Centro Mayor Alex Cardenas. The city has a great financial team monitoring the budget and developed a contingency plan to provide supplemental funding to key services.
“The city is looking at overall efficiencies and how they might be enhanced regardless of the outcome of budget negotiations but El Centro is in good financial health and in a position to weather these storms,” Cardenas said.
Characterizing the proposed budget as unfair to Imperial County as it impacts the Valley more than other parts of the country is Brawley Mayor Sam Couchman. “Imperial County is fiscally conservative so I’d like to see Congress work out some compromise to restore some of the proposed cuts,” said Couchman. “But all budgets are living documents and they change depending on the circumstances.”
If the proposed budget passes it would harm many at Imperial Valley College who get significant financial aid, noted Bill Gay, IVC public relations consultant. “But Congress has to weigh in on the budget and it may look a lot different then,” he said.
The cuts will certainly hurt the homeless, remarked Maribel Padilla, co-founder of the Brown Bag Coalition, a nonprofit assisting the underserved. “What worries me most are cuts to food stamps,” she said. “At the beginning of the month we get 35 to 50 clients. But at the end, we have 80 because they run out of money or food stamps. All our food is donated. We used to receive full meals. Now we get more sandwiches. This cut will end up making more homeless.”