Groups seek more funding for children, including nutrition
August 18, 2015 |12:21 AM
Fourteen groups advocating for children and families are sending a letter to Congress today to urge a year-end budgetary package that will increase spending on children’s programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.
The letter, which was spearheaded by First Focus, notes that budget caps initially applied equally to both defense and non-defense discretionary spending, but says “a loophole in the 2016 congressional budget resolution provides an increase in defense discretionary spending over 10 years, by funneling $187 billion in additional 2016 funding through off-budget Overseas Contingency Operations accounts.”
“That same budget resolution cuts non-defense discretionary funding, which includes a wide range of children’s initiatives, over the same timeframe by nearly $500 billion,” the letter says.
The letter urges parity, asking policymakers to raise “non-defense discretionary budget caps to levels on balance with defense spending.”
“Investing in a strong defense protects children from real and serious threats. So does investing in the initiatives that protect kids from hunger, homelessness, ignorance, abuse and neglect, illness, and poverty,” said First Focus President Bruce Lesley.
The letter also cautions that the adoption of a “continuing resolution or other consolidated fiscal package puts at risk funding increases included in individual appropriations bills passed to date."
“As a children’s advocacy group, our first and only question is ‘What’s best for children?,” said Lesley. “Experience shows that regular order is best for kids, but the next-best thing is a CR that protects this year’s funding gains.”
The letter, which was spearheaded by First Focus, notes that budget caps initially applied equally to both defense and non-defense discretionary spending, but says “a loophole in the 2016 congressional budget resolution provides an increase in defense discretionary spending over 10 years, by funneling $187 billion in additional 2016 funding through off-budget Overseas Contingency Operations accounts.”
“That same budget resolution cuts non-defense discretionary funding, which includes a wide range of children’s initiatives, over the same timeframe by nearly $500 billion,” the letter says.
The letter urges parity, asking policymakers to raise “non-defense discretionary budget caps to levels on balance with defense spending.”
“Investing in a strong defense protects children from real and serious threats. So does investing in the initiatives that protect kids from hunger, homelessness, ignorance, abuse and neglect, illness, and poverty,” said First Focus President Bruce Lesley.
The letter also cautions that the adoption of a “continuing resolution or other consolidated fiscal package puts at risk funding increases included in individual appropriations bills passed to date."
“As a children’s advocacy group, our first and only question is ‘What’s best for children?,” said Lesley. “Experience shows that regular order is best for kids, but the next-best thing is a CR that protects this year’s funding gains.”
