Tag: federal budget

Moms and Babies Left Out Of Trump Administration’s Budget Proposal

1,000 Days leads the fight to give mothers and babies in the U.S. and around the world the nutrition they need to thrive. We know that the 1,000 days between pregnancy and age two set the stage for all the days that follow, representing an unparalleled opportunity to positively affect the trajectory of future generations.

That is why we are incredibly disappointed in the Trump Administration’s refusal to prioritize the health and well-being of mothers and babies in its recently released budget proposal. The Administration calls for devastating cuts to global and domestic programs that will jeopardize critical supports for families here and around the world. From drastic changes to SNAP—a program that helps 1 in 4 children in America get enough to eat every day—that limit consumer choice, to a 30% cut to America’s foreign assistance and diplomacy programs, this budget is dangerous and shortsighted.

The Trump Administration missed its chance to demonstrate real commitment to women and children; instead it doubled-down on the funding cuts it proposed last year. The American people deserve a budget that reflects our values as a nation – one that ensures access to comprehensive, quality healthcare, nutrition assistance and parental supports while also providing lifesaving foreign aid to vulnerable families throughout the world.

1,000 Days calls on Congress to continue their longstanding, bipartisan support for nutrition, health and foreign assistance programs by rejecting these proposed cuts. We stand ready to work with Congressional allies to preserve and strengthen these programs and achieve our vision of a brighter, healthier future for all children

Bipartisan Budget Deal Announced with Funding for Critical Programs for Moms and Babies

Yesterday, Senate Leaders announced a bipartisan budget deal to lift arbitrary funding caps for two years, allowing for much-needed increases in federal spending. The deal also maintains funding for domestic and foreign aid programs through March 23, 2018, giving Congress time to agree upon specific funding levels for the remainder of fiscal year 2018. 1,000 Days is encouraged by this important development.

We strongly support the additional funding announced for domestic and foreign aid programs vital to the health and well-being of moms and babies. We look forward to working with Congress to maintain support for effective, life-saving health and nutrition programs both at home and around the world.

We are particularly pleased that the bipartisan budget deal includes a two-year extension of funding for community health centers, the national health service corps and other health-related programs, helping to ensure millions of Americans will be able to continue to access the health services they need. The bipartisan Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program will receive an additional five years of funding and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will receive additional funding—providing vulnerable children with the health care security they need. Last, much-needed federal relief will be available to families and communities affected by the recent natural disasters in Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas and California as they continue to recover.

However, we are disappointed this deal includes a $1.35 billion cut to the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) over the next decade. Reducing the PPHF undermines the critical work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect our public health both at home and abroad, including jeopardizing initiatives that support breastfeeding and reduce health disparities.

Still, bipartisan support of this deal shows that Congress works best when Republicans and Democrats come together to put the needs of families first. Moms and babies here and around the world deserve no less.

Congress Comes Through On CHIP, Falls Short On Other Critical Public Health Programs

Yesterday, Congress passed and the President signed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government until February 8, 2018. Included in the legislation is a six-year funding extension for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

1,000 Days supports long-term funding for CHIP. Nearly 9 million children and 370,000 pregnant women depend on CHIP for their health coverage. Since last September, Congressional inaction left millions of families wondering if their children would be able to access the health care they need or if their state would announce an end in coverage. Yesterday those fears were finally put to rest.

However, yesterday’s bill does not include a deal to fund other critical health programs that expired at the end of September 2017, such as Community Health Centers and the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. And there remains no agreement on a budget for the rest of this fiscal year ending September 30, jeopardizing continued funding for many additional programs that support the health and well-being of women and children.

1,000 Days calls on Congress to finish their work and fund these important programs, putting the needs of young children and their families first.

Trump’s Budget Cuts Will Harm Young Children and Families

At 1,000 Days, we believe that children are the foundation of a country’s greatness. When young children thrive, so do nations. It is why we are deeply concerned by the Trump Administration’s proposal to slash funding for basic nutrition, health and anti-poverty programs that give children here in the U.S. and around the world a strong start to life. By cutting vital domestic safety net programs and foreign assistance, the Trump Administration will not only weaken America’s foundation, it will also put vulnerable children and their families in harm’s way.

It is troubling to see that the President’s budget takes aim at programs that many hardworking American families of young children rely on to make ends meet: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly known as food stamps or SNAP), the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). 1,000 Days is particularly concerned about cuts to SNAP because nearly HALF of families that participate in the program include at least one child under age 5. It is unconscionable that the Trump Administration would propose massive cuts to SNAP when nearly 1/3 of preschoolers in the U.S. rely on the program each month for their nutritional needs. We are also deeply troubled by the proposal to slash funding for Medicaid and CHIP which together serve the health care needs of almost HALF of all children under the age of 6 in the U.S. These programs are vital to ensuring that all kids in America have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

By proposing deep cuts to foreign assistance, the President’s budget will also hurt young children in some of the poorest countries throughout the world. Each year nearly 3 million children under age 5 die from malnutrition—a condition that is almost entirely preventable. The U.S. has been a leader in the fight against global malnutrition and America’s investments in life-saving programs to improve maternal and young child nutrition costs a fraction of a penny of every dollar spent by the U.S. government. There is little question that eliminating or scaling down U.S. global health, development and humanitarian efforts will cost lives and reverse more than a decade of progress against poverty and disease. These devastating cuts come at a time in which the world is facing severe famines and other humanitarian crises and when over 1 million children are at risk of dying from starvation.

The President’s budget proposal is not only mean-spirited, it is also short-sighted. It will fail to balance the federal budget and will actually cost more money in the long run as taxpayers contend with the sickness and suffering that cutting vital health and nutrition programs will create.

Americans deserve better than a federal budget that puts the health and well-being of young children and their families at risk. Congress must reject the President’s proposal and start over to build a budget that is worthy of our children and our true greatness as a nation.

Proposed Budget Cuts Would Leave Behind The World’s Most Vulnerable, Undermine Our Future

1,000 Days is deeply troubled by the Trump Administration’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2018, which, through drastic cuts to lifesaving foreign assistance programs, would hurt the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.  These cuts come at a time when the world is facing a vast crisis of malnutrition and famine that is taking the lives of young children each day.

The Administration’s proposed 28% cut to the foreign assistance budget is simply not in the national interest of the United States. It will not make Americans any safer or more prosperous and will do little to balance our country’s budget. On the contrary, this shortsighted request will ultimately cost American taxpayers more money, requiring more costly interventions in subsequent years to address the destabilizing effect that malnutrition, poverty, and disease have on communities.

Foreign assistance programs, which constitute less than 1% of the federal budget, have outsized impact around the world. U.S. investments to combat global malnutrition deliver proven interventions that save and improve lives and build trading partners for American businesses. Annual GDP losses attributable to malnutrition average 12% in Africa and Asia, eclipsing the GDP losses experienced after the 2008 global financial crisis. But, for every $1 invested in improving nutrition in the 1,000 day window between pregnancy and age two, we see a return of $48 in better health and economic productivity.

To see sustainable gains in nutrition, we must ensure that a multi-sectoral range of programs is protected and, ultimately, grown. This includes bilateral U.S. development investments as well as our country’s contributions to critical multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. And, to effectively deliver, we must ensure that the expertise of USAID, the U.S. government’s lead development agency, is strengthened.

We look to Members of Congress to continue their remarkable leadership in promoting international development by securing and protecting the FY 2018 International Affairs budget as an investment in our national security and in our future prosperity.