BELIEVE IT OR NOT?
In the wake of September 11th, President Bush promised New York $20 billion in emergency aid. Congress and the President now appear to be wrangling over how much has actually gone to New York and when they will receive the rest. The President's Budget Director, Mitchell Daniels, in response to a question by Senator Hillary Clinton, actually responded that New York's fight to get the federal aid promised reminded him of a "little money grubbing game." Daniels quickly ate his words and the President did his best at damage control. But New York so far has only seen $11.1 billion. Unfortunately, Congress has been unable to act quickly on this issue because of the radically different plans under consideration.

WHAT DOES A NEW FEDERAL BUDGET MEAN FOR NEW YORK?
President Bush recently released his $2.13 trillion budget, setting the stage for what promises to be a long election year battle with Congress. The President's budget increases spending for defense and to pay for homeland security costs. He also calls for a new round of corporate tax cuts. In order to pay for the defense build-up and new tax cuts, many domestic programs will see deep cuts. Decisions made by Congress will certainly effect the delivery of state and local services. In fact, many of the budget proposals will have a huge impact on public employees throughout New York.

EDUCATION
Education spending would increase by 2.8 percent nation-wide, the smallest increase in seven years, as some programs would rise and others fall. New York State, for example, would see level funding for grants to improve teacher quality and vocational education grants, while Title I, rehabilitation and special education would see slight increases.

SOCIAL SERVICES
Programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) and Child Care and Development Block Grant would see level funding nationally. New York State, however, would suffer a loss of $207,000 in SSBG, losing even more ground to inflation, $20 million in Foster Care, $8 million in Head Start, and $727 million in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

HEALTH
President Bush's budget would restrain the growth of Medicaid by reducing payments to public hospitals and by cracking down on state efforts to obtain federal money to finance health care for the poor. This budget does not include the $1.8 million that Governor Pataki has requested to boost the wages for health care workers in the State

TRANSPORTATION
President Bush's budget reduces overall transportation funding by 21 percent nationally, with the largest cut coming out of new highway construction. For New York State it means $24 million less for surface transportation funding.

LABOR
In New York State, employment and job training funding would be cut by $4 million, dislocated worker funding is cut by $1 million, as unemployment insurance administrative financing is rolled back to the states for funding.

ENRON EMPLOYEES LOSSES ON RETIREMENT INVESTMENTS MAKES GOOD ARGUMENT WHY SOCIAL SECURITY SHOULD NOT BE PRIVATIZED
In December, the President's Commission on the Future of Social Security gave law makers three options for the future of Social Security, all three proposals include privatization. Then came January and hundreds of Enron employees lost their retirement savings through poor investments in the stock market. Isn't this is a great example why we shouldn't put our social security savings at the same risk.

WHY PEOPLE?

PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality) is our federal political action program. PEOPLE is your voice in Washington D.C.
We fight for better wages, job security, safe workplaces, health care, social security and making sure we get our fair share of the federal budget for programs for our members. JOIN PEOPLE TODAY!
Call the Political Action Department at 1-800-342-4146 ext 1404 for more information.