Sitting from the same seat in the House of Representatives chamber where I heard the President announce devastating cuts to community action during the State of the Union address last January, I was encouraged by the proposals included in his speech last night, which did not propose any reductions to CSBG. Though many of the provisions in his proposal have little chance of passing due to partisan gridlock of Congress, several are positive. For example, I am most encouraged by the President's commitment to summer job training for low-income youth. This proposal would establish the "Pathways Back to Work Fund" for summer and year-round job training which would draw on innovative approaches that have created these types of jobs in the past.
Despite this positive step forward, the bad news is that the President has passed the buck to Congress and called for them to find almost $450 billion in increased budget cuts (on top of the $1.5 trillion in required cuts that the "Super Committee" must find as part of last month's deficit deal). This puts even more pressure on domestic, yearly allocated spending including programs essential to community action like CSBG, WIA, Head Start, LIHEAP and Weatherization programs. We will remain vigilant as Congress and the White House work out the details in the coming weeks and draw on the strong bipartisan support that community action programs receive throughout Congress to ensure sustainable levels of funding.
David Bradley
Executive Director
National Community Action Foundation
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