Health, education focus of Biden budget
Military and defence spending will increase by 1.7% to $753 billion
US President Joe Biden released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget yesterday, asking for substantial gains for Democratic priorities including education, health care, housing and environmental protection.
Here are the key takeways:
Health, medical research
The budget includes $8.7 billion in funding for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. It also allocates $6.5 billion for a new research agency to direct federal funding to diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer research, and $10.7 billion to research and prevent opioid addiction, representing a nearly $4 billion increase from last year.
Education
The budget would distribute a record $36.5 billion to America’s neediest school districts, up $20 billion from the 2021 enacted level. This comes on the heels of the American Rescue Plan Act, which invested more than $122 billion in K-12 public schools. The budget includes $1 billion for school nurses and mental health programmes to address effects of the pandemic.
Transport
The budget proposes $600 million to buy electric vehicles for government agencies and charging stations, including for the US Postal Service and $8 billion for the Energy Department to invest in clean energy technologies, up 27 per cent over the prior year’s funding. It would also boost Amtrak funding by 35 per cent.
Environment
A total $14 billion boost on climate spending is expected to go a long way toward reversing Trump’s slashing of regulations on fossil fuel producers such as rules on methane, and provides $1.2 billion for the international Green Climate Fund.
Military spending
Making up about half of the US discretionary budget, this would increase by 1.7 per cent to $753 billion. The budget includes $52 billion for the U.S Department of Homeland Security.