The financial security of women is at stake in the budget debate in Congress. The Republican 7-year budget resolution, which just passed the House and Senate, would have a devastating and disproportionate impact on women, children, and low-income people.
The Republican plan, which is a blueprint for the yearly Congressional appropriations process, calls for deep spending cuts in programs benefiting women and poor people, large tax breaks to benefit wealthy Americans, and a $58 billion increase in defense spending over seven years. Two-hundred forty-five billion dollars in tax cuts, a reduction in the capital gains tax, and a $500-per-child tax credit are included in the Republican plan. Meanwhile, 60% of the spending cuts included in the resolution will come from Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, programs which primarily benefit poor women and children and the elderly.
The Republican plan would eliminate some programs entirely, while others would be cut substantially. For example, the plan would disband the 75 year old Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, which has brought national attention to concerns of working women, such as family leave, child care, and pay equity. Other discretionary cuts within the Department of Labor, called "streamlining" by the Republicans, would disarm agencies of their regulatory functions, making it difficult or impossible for the Department to enforce the minimum wage, affirmative action, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and other workplace discrimination statutes.
Other programs and departments to be eliminated include the Office of the Surgeon General, which advocates on public health issues including no smoking campaigns and sex education, and the Commerce Department. Included in the Commerce Department cut is the Minority Business Development Agency and the Economic Development Administration, which assists economically-troubled communities.
The second strategy of the Republicans is to cut spending by "slowing the rate of growth," an approach that has been advocated as a solution to the rising costs of Medicare and Medicaid. This sort of language is deceptive, suggesting that the forthcoming cuts will simply require a little tightening of the belt. In fact, proposals to slow the growth of social programs do not take
into account the normal increase in dollars that happens each year due to inflation. Over time, freezing spending or slowing its growth rate will result in less purchasing power for agencies, and therefore fewer services. While our politicians may not want to call these spending reductions cuts, in the long run, this will be the end result.
The final Republican strategy is to consolidate entitlement programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and school lunches into block grants for the states. This solution is problematic on several counts. First, block grants would convert the entitlement programs which have long served as a safety net for the poor into discretionary spending programs. Unlike under the current system, the welfare rolls would not automatically expand during recessionary periods to counteract some of the strain of declining incomes. (See welfare article, p.6)
In addition to their punitive budget resolution, the Republicans are also trying to cut money that has already been committed to women's programs. Specifically, the Violence Against Women Act, passed last year by an overwhelming majority in Congress and which would provide funding for battered women's shelters and violence prevention, is now in danger of being unfunded by the new Congress. At press time, $100 million out of the $272 million committed had been cut from the Violence Against Women Act. 0