The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Great Lakes take great hit in proposed budget
It would restore drug czar’s office funding
A budget released maintains Trump’s previous plan to zero out federal funding for the Great Lakes.
Despite bipartisan pushback, a fiscal year 2018 budget released May 23 by President Donald Trump maintains his previous plan to zero out federal funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The initiative was started in 2010 to “accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world — to provide additional resources to make progress toward the most critical long-term goals for this important ecosystem,” an action plan for the project states.
Since the program was launched, more than $2 billion has been spent to remove toxic wastes from industrial harbors, fight invasive species such as Asian carp, restore wildlife habitat and support efforts to prevent harmful algal blooms.
The program has received about $300 million per year on average.
Both of Ohio’s U.S. senators criticized the president’s proposed cuts in March and did so again following the newly released proposal.
“This bipartisan program helps protect our environment and strengthen Ohio’s economy,” Republican Sen. Rob Portman said. “We won the fight to restore full funding for GLRI for this fiscal year, and I will continue to help lead the effort in the Senate to do so again next year — just like I did when President Obama proposed cutting the program.”
Democrat Sherrod Brown said, “Taking a blowtorch to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative could cost Ohio jobs that rely on the Lake, and jeopardize public health by putting our drinking water at risk.”
“Those of us along the Great Lakes will not stand for a budget that eliminates the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative,” Brown added.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy will not see its funding slashed. Earlier this month, preliminary budget documents leaked showing a planned 95 percent cut in funding to what is commonly referred to as the drug czar’s office. Portman and Brown were critical of those cuts, which included eliminating High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and the Drug Free Communities program.
Trump’s May 23 budget includes $247 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and $91 million for Drug Free Communities.
“I appreciate the fact that the White House has changed course and will support the work of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,” Portman said. “I had a productive conversation with (Office of Management and Budget) Director (Mick) Mulvaney recently about the work of the drug czar’s office and I’m pleased the White House will support its essential programs to combat drug addiction.”
Brown criticized the president’s proposed budget for “cutting or maintaining current levels of federal funding for various programs working to address the opioid epidemic.” Under President Trump’s proposed budget, programs within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration face nearly $400 million in cuts while initiatives such as the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant are not increasing despite urgent need, Brown said.
“The opioid epidemic has touched every Ohio community, and the administration must start treating this issue as the crisis that it is,” Brown said. “Individuals and families struggling with addiction need a meaningful commitment from their elected leaders, but instead, the administration has chosen to undercut the efforts of Ohio communities to tackle this epidemic.”
Presidents’ budget proposals are wish lists, as Congress has the power of the purse. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said in a tweet that all presidents’ budgets are “dead on arrival.”
The president’s budget is a suggestion, said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, who is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
“We will take a close look at his budget, but Congress is mandated by the Constitution with key spending responsibilities and will ultimately decide what the nation’s fiscal priorities will be,” Enzi said in a statement.