Torres to monitor Trump budget proposal

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said they would closely monitor the process of President Trump’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. The CNMI and other territories—American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with the Freely Associated States of the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands—were allocated $591.9 million in the Trump budget through the Department of the Interior-Office of Insular Affairs.

The Trump budget proposal, however, faces criticisms and is unpopular to some after it made huge cuts in some programs for the poor like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and food stamps, among others.

The Torres administration remains hopeful, as the budget proposal would still go through congressional leaders before it is passed.

“This proposal will go through the legislative process where the representatives of the U.S. territories and commonwealths will be given opportunity to emphasize and reiterate the needs of our islands,” Torres said in a statement.

Torres said the process would ensure that insular areas won’t be left out. “This process ensures that the proposal is balanced and well represented while ensuring that the needs of the various insular areas are met.”

“The administration will closely monitor the progress of this proposal as it goes through the budgetary process.”

The Trump budget is not all about cuts. The Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs would be getting 10.1 and 5.8 percent increase, respectively. DoD’s budget would increase from $521.8 billion to $574.5 billion while the VA’s would go from $74.5 billion to $78.8 billion. The Department of Homeland Security also got a 6.7-percent increase, including $2.6 billion for border security.

Cuts to impact NMI

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-Saipan) said the CNMI would lose close to $6 million in grants and assistance if Trump’s budget pushes through. A total of $54 billion is also being proposed to be cut from other federal programs.

The Interior Department’s technical assistance grants would be cut by $2 million, while $3 million will be taken from Maintenance Assistance, $304,000 from the Coral Reef Initiative, and $660,000 from Empowering Insular Communities.

“President Trump submitted a fiscal year 2018 budget to Congress [last week] cutting $54 billion from programs that help American working families, hospitals, law enforcement, schools, and infrastructure,” said Sablan.

The DoD, however, would get more, with the military having an additional $12.9 million for the U.S. Air Force’s leasing 142 hectares of land on Tinian for its divert project.

The Community Development Block Grants, used by the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. to help resurface the Oleai track oval, is proposed to be eliminated. That would cost the CNMI $984,846 while all outlying areas would lose $94 million in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants.

OIA’s budget request

The OIA is requesting $507.6 million in mandatory funding, including $84.3 million in discretionary appropriations. The OIA would also be receiving $123.9 million in discretionary funding from the DoD if the budget pushes through.

The DoD appropriations transfer is to support the 2010 Compact Review Agreement between the United States and Palau.

$3.6T in cuts

Trump’s budget proposal reportedly has close to $3.6 trillion in cuts, including $610 billion in Medicaid aside from the $880 billion already in the GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill. Social programs like SNAP, CHIP, food stamps, welfare, and disability insurance would get more than $280 billion in cuts.

The earned income tax and child tax credit, used as a safety net by poor people, would be reduced by $40.4 billion while another $21.6 billion would be cut from the temporary assistance for needy families.

Trump’s budget proposes 31.4 percent in cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency ($8.2 billion to $5.7 billion), the State Department would be getting $28.2 billion or a 29.1-percent decrease from $39.7 billion the previous fiscal year.

Other agencies that are also being eyed for cuts are Housing and Urban Development ($40.7 billion from $46.9 billion), Labor ($9.7 billion from $12.1 billion), Transportation ($16.2 billion from $18.6 billion), Interior ($11.7 billion from $13.2 billion), Education ($59 billion from $68.2 billion), Justice ($27.7 billion from $28.8 billion), and U.S. Corps of Engineers ($5 billion from $6 billion).