Senate Concurrent Resolution 103 - Introduced
PAG LIN
S.C.R. ________ H.C.R. ________
1 1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY BOLKCOM and RAGAN
1 3 A Concurrent Resolution urging the United States
1 4 Congress to adopt a budget that meets the needs
1 5 of Iowa's children and families, restores funding
1 6 for human needs, and avoids shifting the
1 7 responsibility for funding of necessary human
1 8 needs from the federal to state government.
1 9 WHEREAS, President Bush's proposed federal fiscal
1 10 year 2009 budget calls for cuts in appropriations for
1 11 the Medicaid and Medicare programs and inadequately
1 12 funds the State Children's Health Insurance Program
1 13 (SCHIP), known in Iowa as hawk=i, at a time when
1 14 expanding health coverage for children is a priority;
1 15 and
1 16 WHEREAS, the President's budget calls for deep cuts
1 17 or no inflationary adjustments to appropriations for
1 18 key domestic human needs programs; and
1 19 WHEREAS, the President's budget is based on
1 20 questionable assumptions and unrealistic revenue and
1 21 cost projections, incorporates unsustainable tax cuts,
1 22 and seriously understates its full impact on Iowa and
1 23 other states; and
1 24 WHEREAS, according to the most recent United States
1 25 Census Bureau data from 2006, a total of 38.8 million
1 26 people in this country are living in poverty, an
1 27 increase of 4.9 million people since 2000, and 13.3
1 28 million of the total are children; in Iowa, according
1 29 to the 2006 data, 316,022 people were living in
1 30 poverty, including 95,696 children; and
2 1 WHEREAS, the President's budget would cut the
2 2 federal Social Services Block Grant for federal fiscal
2 3 year 2009 and eliminate the block grant entirely in
2 4 federal fiscal year 2010; the block grant provides a
2 5 flexible source of federal funds used for a wide range
2 6 of social services in Iowa; and
2 7 WHEREAS, the President's budget cuts the Low Income
2 8 Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by 22 percent
2 9 despite skyrocketing energy costs, with nearly 22,000
2 10 Iowa households potentially losing assistance at a
2 11 time when home heating costs for the average family
2 12 have increased nearly 80 percent since 2001; and
2 13 WHEREAS, the President's budget would eliminate the
2 14 federal Community Services Block Grant that helps
2 15 maintain the network of community action agencies and
2 16 rural outreach offices across Iowa, which are often
2 17 the only places where low=income local residents can
2 18 get assistance; eliminating the block grant would
2 19 close Iowa's 91 outreach offices and the Red Rock
2 20 Community Action Agency, leaving more than 300,000
2 21 low=income Iowans, including 126,000 children, without
2 22 much=needed assistance; and
2 23 WHEREAS, the President's budget inadequately funds
2 24 the Head Start Program, threatening the quality of
2 25 services offered and possibly forcing children out of
2 26 the program; and
2 27 WHEREAS, the President's budget offers no increase
2 28 in funding for the federal Child Care and Development
2 29 Block Grant, which would result in fewer low=income
2 30 families having access to vital child care services to
3 1 maintain employment; and
3 2 WHEREAS, the underfunding of the SCHIP Program
3 3 (hawk=i) in the President's budget would result in
3 4 budget shortfalls that will make greater demands of
3 5 Iowa taxpayers or drive Iowa children from the program
3 6 and into the escalating ranks of the uninsured; NOW
3 7 THEREFORE,
3 8 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF
3 9 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the General Assembly
3 10 calls upon the United States Congress to adopt a
3 11 budget that adequately meets the needs of Iowa
3 12 children and families; and
3 13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the General Assembly
3 14 calls upon Congress to adopt a budget that restores
3 15 much needed funding to human needs programs to at
3 16 least the federal fiscal year 2005 budget levels, as
3 17 adjusted for inflation; and
3 18 BE FURTHER IT RESOLVED, That the General Assembly
3 19 calls upon the Congress to adopt a budget that does
3 20 not unfairly shift the federal government's
3 21 responsibility to provide funding for human needs onto
3 22 Iowa and the other states; and
3 23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That upon passage of this
3 24 resolution, suitable copies of the resolution shall be
3 25 transmitted to the members of Iowa's congressional
3 26 delegation, the President of the United States, and
3 27 the federal Office of Management and Budget.
3 28 LSB 6591SS 82
3 29 jp/nh/5