News
Appropriations Advocacy Season Kicks Off on Multiple Fronts
- By: USAging
- On: 03/10/2017 16:30:24
- In: Policy & Advocacy
We expect that in a “skinny” budget, due out next week, President Trump will propose significant cuts totaling $54 billion or more (roughly 11 percent total) to federal Non-Defense Discretionary funding.
How these cuts are spread across agencies, such as ACL/AoA, remains to be seen, but advocates are gearing up for major fights as Congress develops funding proposals for FY 2018 this spring.
n4a was out of the gate early with our appropriations requests in a letter sent to House and Senate appropriators last week that outlines our funding priorities for OAA and other key aging programs. Yesterday, n4a staff member Autumn Campbell told her personal story to House Labor-HHS Subcommittee leadership about how important OAA programs were to her as a caregiver to her mother, and the need to protect and increase funding for Older Americans Act. Her remarks and a full written statement are archived on the committee website (begin at 1:33:00 on the video).
n4a will continue to release updates and tools for local advocates in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Congress must still finalize FY 2017 funding by April 28 when the current continuing resolution expires.