Washington Post Examines Funding in Bush’s First Year
The Jan. 24 Washington Post examines how federal agencies "fared" under President Bush's first budget. Shortly after he took office last year, Bush submitted a $661 billion budget proposal, a 4% increase spending requested by former President Clinton's in his last budget. However, the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon created a "scramble" to provide money for a war, to "beef up" homeland defense agencies and to assist areas affected by the attacks. Congress appropriated an additional $40 billion because of the attacks. Accounting for various other increases, the administration received a total of $706 billion in its first year, not including funds for mandatory programs like Medicare or Medicaid (Morgan, Washington Post, 1/24). The following is a recap of the funding several health-care related agencies received under Bush's first budget:
- HHS: The agency received $407 billion for mandatory spending, "mostly" for Medicare and Medicaid, and another $61.6 billion for "discretionary programs." In addition, Bush continued to increase funding for the NIH, requesting $23.1 billion and receiving $23.4 billion from Congress. The administration also requested $11 billion for a prescription drug plan for low-income seniors, but the program was not enacted. Bush also requested $64 million for a program that would promote "responsible fatherhood," but that program also was not enacted (Sarasohn, Washington Post, 1/24).
- Veterans Affairs: The department received $51.1 billion, $463.1 million more than it requested. The VA health care system received $351.4 million, "by far the largest part of the increase." However, VA health care also received the agency's only cut, a $897,000 decrease in funding for staff of the VA headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Walsh, Washington Post, 1/24).
- Agriculture: Congress granted $16 billion to the agency, $600,000 over the administration's request, with the "biggest increase" for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The WIC program received $4.39 billion, $211 million more than the administration's request (Lancaster, Washington Post, 1/24).
