"Omnibus" Budget for FY2009

March 31, 2009

After operating at 2008 funding levels for the first five and a half months of the 2009 fiscal year, an Omnibus spending bill was signed by President Obama on March 11, 2009. The half-year funding, held at 2008 levels, resulted in shortages for social programs due to inflation and increased numbers of people relying on services for food, housing and healthcare needs. The Omnibus bill, which covers discretionary spending in nine of the twelve appropriations areas, made some strides toward addressing these shortages but some programs are experiencing continued cuts.

Below are examples of program funding in the FY2009 Omnibus bill compared with funding levels five years ago (FY2005):

• Youth Build (+3%) provides unemployed youth with opportunities to learn in the construction field. Other job training and employment services were cut, with some being eliminated.

• Community Health Centers (+14%) address the needs of many uninsured persons, often preventing more expensive trips to emergency rooms. Other health care assistance programs have been cut by as much as 25%. All mental health programs are currently funded at levels below FY2005.

• Community Services Block Grants (+6%) allow local communities to fund programs for child care and address other human needs. Almost all Child Welfare Services have been cut over the last few years.

• Low Income Home Energy Assistance (+116%) funds energy-saving adaptations and provides assistance in meeting current heating and cooling expenses. This is a one-year increase. Most other community services are receiving less funding than in FY2005.

• Nutrition for the Elderly (+2%), nutrition assistance for those on fixed incomes, is critical as energy costs push food costs to higher levels.

• Pell Grants (+26%) help more members of low-income families to continue their education. This increase came in one year.

• WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition/Women, Infants and Children) (+18%), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (+28%), and TEFAP (the Emergency Food Assistance Program) (+63%) help low-income families and elderly people meet their nutritional needs as more qualify and the cost of food escalates.

• Homeless Assistance Grants (+22%) provide rental assistance to people with disabilities. Other housing programs have had funding cut by as much as 20% over the last five years.

NETWORK will continue to advocate for adequate funding for human needs programs in the FY2010 budget.

NETWORK's Values

As always, NETWORK’s economic analysis and advocacy are guided by Catholic Social Teaching, as articulated by Sister Amata Miller in the January-February 2009 issue of our magazine, the Connection(“Addressing the Economic Crisis with Faith,” page 4). Important guideposts include:

• Dignity of Every Person Each has inalienable dignity prior to social status, race, gender, nationality, type of employment and human achievement. From conception to death, everyone has a right to all that is necessary to live in dignity

• Co-responsibility for the Common Good As citizens of our states and nation and of the world community, we have a responsibility to collaborate with others to bring about a more just, humane and sustainable world for all God’s people so that each can fulfill the unique purpose for which he or she was created.

• Universal Purpose of Material Things Everything we have has a moral significance. Our right to private ownership is conditioned on the rights of others to have what is necessary. Their basic needs have to take priority over my wants. There should be a floor and a ceiling for what is considered necessary for human dignity. As Americans, we need to develop a sense of “enoughness.” Our value does not depend on what we have.

• Solidarity This is the moral response to the reality of our interdependence. We are called to recognize every member of the human family as “neighbor”—one who deserves to enjoy, on a par with ourselves, a share in the abundance that God has created for all.

• Special Concern for Those Who Are Poor and Vulnerable Central to the biblical tradition that we share with Jews and other Christians is special care for people among us who are poor and vulnerable—specifically children, widows and “strangers in the land.” These have a special claim on our care and our resources, especially at times of special necessity such as this deep recession when they have few options.

• Care for Earth Our choices must be made in light of our co-responsibility to live sustainably in order to preserve the habitat for future generations.