President's Budget To Hurt States

    States
will lose significant funding under the Bush Administration's proposed
budget for Fiscal Year 2006, according to the National Priorities
Project (NPP), a non-partisan research group. 

    NPP has
produced a breakdown of the budget's impact on each state for: the
total of all discretionary federal grants to state and local
governments; Low-Income Home and Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP); community and economic development funds; the No Child Left
Behind Act; and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.  These state
numbers, along with other budget information, can be found at: www.nationalpriorities.org/budget. 

    In
total, discretionary federal grants to state and local governments
would be cut by almost 9 percent after inflation.  At the same time,
the President's budget proposes a 3 percent or $19 billion increase in
Pentagon spending, not including funding for the wars in Iraq or
Afghanistan.

    "The President's budget will harm thousands of
children, seniors and working adults in every state in the nation,"
said Greg Speeter, Executive Director, National Priorities Project. 
"This budget makes the wrong choices based on the wrong priorities,"
Speeter added.