|
UPDATE: The Continuing Resolution has passed the House by a 235-189 vote. Please join us in calling on the Senate to say no to budget cuts for the world’s poor. We’ll have more for you soon.
Later tonight or tomorrow morning, the House of Representatives is expected to pass its version of a Continuing Resolution that will fund the functions of government for Fiscal Year 2011. This unfortunately means significant cuts to the poverty-fighting programs that ONE supports.
To clarify, since the Congress failed to pass a single appropriations bill last Fiscal Year, the Continuing Resolution or CR, as it is known, keeps the government running until actualappropriations bills can be passed. CRs traditionally provide funding at the levels established on the previous year’s enacted appropriated bills.
However, the Republican-led House, reacting to the fiscal crisis and the urgent need to address government spending and national debt, is seeking to cut funding at or below the FY 2010 levels in this bill. In fact, they will cut at least $100 billion from all non-defense spending, including a total of $9 billion cut from the State-Foreign Operations portion of the bill which houses the majority of ONE priorities. Since final votes have yet to take place, more spending cuts remain a possibility.
So far, the overall State and Foreign Operations portion of the CR has received a 17% cut from the FY 2010 level. ONE’s priorities have taken a significant hit. PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, for example will see an 8% cut. The Global Fund, which is a multi lateral fund to fight HIV/AIDs, TB and Malaria is the biggest loser with a cut of 43% or $450 million from the FY 10 level. Agriculture programs, like Feed the Future are facing a 30% cut in funding. Other accounts to be cut are the Millennuim Challenge Account, and the World Bank .
These cuts are more than just numbers, they have a real-world impact on people who need these programs to survive. For example, the impact of the cuts to the Global Fund alone would:
- 10 million malaria bed nets from being delivered to malaria prone communities
- Prevent 3.7 million people from getting tested for HIV
- Deny 400,000 new patients from getting life-saving ARV treatments
It’s easy to dismiss this House bill as symbolic bill that will get fixed by the Senate, but building pressure to cut spending in the Senate does not guarantee it will be fixed. We’re hearing from many supporters in the Senate that tough choices and difficult votes will have to be made. And with 23 Senators facing the voters in 2012, voting to restore these cuts cannot be guaranteed. In defense of the world’s poor, lending your voice and support to your Senators will go a long way to helping them cast the much needed votes.
ONE will be working hard to make sure the Senate does not pass these devastating cuts. We’ll have more for you soon.
|
