ACTION ALERT!! House Budget Process
June 23, 2004

From the National Council on Independent Living:

NCIL LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY COMMITTEE ALERT

Future Funding for Entitlements and Discretionary Programs for Persons With Disabilities At Stake This Week

In describing this week's House schedule, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) emphasized the importance of the Budget Process legislation, by stating that it "defines who we are and where we want to take this country." Unfortunately, we agree !

This week's debate over the budget process legislation, including HR 3973 [the Nussle Bill] and amendments to place caps on entitlement spending, which will culminate with a series of votes on Thursday June 24, 2004, is all about the priorities that Congress will pursue over the next decade and beyond!

Is your Representative REALLY committed to freedom for persons with disabilities or does your representative believe in providing tax cuts for the wealthy paid by placing caps on discretionary (e.g. Section 8) AND entitlement (e.g. Medicaid, Medicare, SSI) spending that may threaten the independence of persons with disabilities? By the end of this week, we'll probably have a pretty good idea.

If proponents of these radical measures prevail, now or in the future, the desire to cut taxes and shrink government will be the primary force driving policy in this country. Instead of enacting MiCASSA, freeing our people from unjustified institutionalization, providing for accessible, affordable housing and expanding the social safety net, we would be left fighting for crumbs from an ever-shrinking pie.

Even if your Representative votes for this devastating legislation, we are certain he or she will come back to you before Election Day and state how committed he or she is to the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. He or she will tell you that this vote is all about symbolism - a meaningless vote for a bill that will not pass to show a commitment to fiscal restraint in light of a runaway budget deficit.

But, don't be fooled ! How YOUR Representative votes on the base bill and on amendments to adopt entitlement caps makes a big difference! As Majority Leader DeLay's words indicate, these proposals are the initial wave in an ambitious long-term campaign to reshape our socio-economic priorities in a way that, if successful, would undercut each and every one of NCIL's advocacy priorities for advancing the independence and empowerment of persons with disabilities over the foreseeable future.

To take one example, if Medicaid is capped and has to be cut, funding reductions will hit optional programs (such as home and community based services) and optional populations (those eligible for Medicaid buy-in programs) far harder than they will hit the nursing homes, which are mandatory.

W ACTION STEPS:

1) Call your Representative, let him or her know that the disability community considers votes in favor of HR 3973 and/or amendments to impose caps on entitlement spending ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE since they would undermine home and community based services and funding for other vital programs that people with disabilities rely upon. State that you expect them to represent you by voting to OPPOSE these radical proposals.

2) Refer to the Talking Points on Budget Process Bill (HR 3973) [ATTACHMENT #1] for a simple, straightforward way to voice your concerns to your Representatives and their staffs.

3) Compose a letter, if your organization wants to declare its opposition to HR 3973 and any amendments including entitlement spending caps. FAX it to your representative and copy it to daniel@ncil.org or gwen@ncil.org.

4) Look at the Target List [ATTACHMENT #2]
Send an alert to your consumers asking them to contact their Representative to reinforce your message. If your Representative(s) are among the lists of "Moderate Republicans," fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats or serve on the Appropriations Committee, it is especially vital that you and your consumers make your stand against these budget process proposals unmistakably clear.

5) Follow up after the vote
Find out how your Representative voted. Educate your consumers on how your Representative voted. In November, when you go to the polls, remember whether he or she voted in OUR interests.

Roll Call votes in the House can be found at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2004/

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ATTACHMENT#1:

TALKING POINTS ON BUDGET PROCESS BILL (HR 3973)

NOTE: Ellen Nissenbaum of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) www.cbpp.org shared these Talking Points (which have been modified by NCIL staff to reflect updated information) at NCIL members' request after her presentation at the NCIL Conference in early June.

Urge your representative to.

• oppose reestablishing "pay as you go" fiscal discipline rules that apply only to entitlement programs. It is unacceptable to have inequitable budget rules that allow tax cuts to continue to pass without being paid for, resulting in a greater deficit and more pressure to cut spending.
• oppose setting caps on all discretionary or appropriated programs that will cause large cuts in key appropriations programs for individuals with disabilities.
• Reject the Kirk substitute. Even though the language has been modified to exempt Medicare as well as Social Security retirement from the entitlement cap and reduces the size of the cuts to "only $445 billion over 10 years," the Kirk Substitute is still very harmful. In addition to setting a very dangerous precedent, it would still require very deep cuts in entitlements including Medicaid and SSI over the next decade.

Bottom line: Oppose HR 3973

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ATTACHMENT #2:

Key Members in House Budget Process Bill Debate

Members of the Appropriations Committee

Republicans: Bill Young (FL), Chairman, Ralph Regula (OH) Vice-Chairman, Jerry Lewis (CA), Harold Rogers (KY), Frank Wolf (VA), Jim Kolbe (AZ), James Walsh (NY), Charles Taylor (NC), David Hobson (OH), Ernest Istook (OK), Henry Bonilla (TX), Joe Knollenberg (MI), Jack Kingston (GA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ), Roger Wicker (MS), George Nethercutt (WA), Randy Cunningham (CA), Todd Tiahrt (KS), Zach Wamp (TN), Tom Latham (IA), Anne Northup (KY), Robert Aderholt (AL) Jo Ann Emerson (MO), Kay Granger (TX), John Peterson (PA), Virgil Goode, Jr. (VA), John Doolittle (CA), Ray LaHood (IL), John Sweeney (NY), David Vitter (LA), Don Sherwood (PA), Dave Weldon (FL), Michael Simpson (ID), John Culberson (TX), Mark Kirk (IL), Ander Crenshaw (FL).

Democrats: David Obey (WI), Ranking, John Murtha (PA), Norman Dicks (WA), Martin Sabo (MN), Steny Hoyer (MD), Alan Mollohan (WV), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Peter Visclosky (IN), Nita Lowey (NY), Jose Serrano (NY), Rosa DeLauro (CT), James Moran (VA), John Olver (MA), Ed Pastor (AZ), David Price (NC), Chet Edwards (TX), Robert Cramer (AL), Patrick Kennedy (RI), James E. Clyburn (SC), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), Sam Farr (CA), Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (IL), Calvin Kilpatrick (MI), F. Allen Boyd, Jr. (FL), Chaka Fattah (PA), Steven Rothman (NY), Sanford Bishop, Jr. (GA), Marion Berry (AR).

* = Cosponsor of the Kirk bill, H.R. 3925

Moderate Republicans

Biggert (IL)*
Bereuter (NE)
Boehlert (NY)
Bono (CA)
Bradley (NH)
Brown-Waite (FL)
Camp (MI)
Capito (WV)
Castle (DE)*
Jo Ann Davis (VA)
Tom Davis (VA)
Ehlers (MI)*
Emerson (MO)
English (PA)
Ferguson (NJ)
Foley (FL)
Frelinghuysen (NJ)
Gilchrest (MD)
Gillmor (OH)*
Greenwood (PA)
Gutknecht (MN)
Hall (TX)
Hayes (NC)
Hobson (OH)
Houghton (NY)*
Johnson (CT)*
Kelly (NY)*
King (NY)
Kirk (IL)*
Kolbe (AZ)
LaHood (IL)
LaTourette (OH)
Leach (IA)
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo (NJ)
Moran (KS)
McHugh (NY)
Nethercutt (WA)
Ney (OH)
Osborne (NE)
Ose (CA)
Petri (WI)
Platts (PA)*
Porter (NV)
Quinn (NY)
Ramstad (MN)
Regula (OH)
Shays (CT)*
Shimkus (IL)
Simmons (CT)
Simpson (ID)
Smith (NJ)
Sweeney (NY)
Upton (MI)*
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Wamp (TN)
Weller (IL)
Whitfield (KY)

Blue Dog Democrats

Alexander (LA)
Baca (CA)
Berry (AR)
Bishop (GA)
Boswell (IA)
Boyd (FL)
Cardoza (CA)
Carson (OK)
Case (HI)
Cooper (TN)
Cramer (AL)
Davis (TN)
Ford (TN)
Harman (CA)
Hill (IN)
Holden (PA)
Israel (NY)
John (LA)
Lipinski (IL)
Lucas (KY)
Matheson (UT)
McIntyre (NC)
Michaud (ME)
Moore (KS)
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy (ND)
Ross (AR)
Loretta Sanchez (CA)
Sandlin (TX)
Schiff (CA)
Scott (GA)
Stenholm (TX)
Tanner (TN)
Tauscher (CA)
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (CA)
Turner (TX)

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