President Barack Obama will propose to Congress a $3.7 trillion budget that would reduce deficits by $1.1 trillion over a ten year period. Some of the items in the budget proposed include:
- The budget proposal would postpone for two years a scheduled 25 percent cut in the Medicare physician payment formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), that’s set to go into effect at the end of the year. The $62 billion “doc fix” would be paid for by “changes that squeeze Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals and doctors and expand the use of generic drugs in federal health programs,” according to The New York Times.
- $2.5 billion–a decrease of $947 million– combined for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). EPA will continue to work with states and communities to enhance their capacity to provide clean water and safe drinking water to Americans. Federal dollars provided through SRFs will help spur efficient system-wide planning and ongoing management of sustainable water infrastructure.
- $1.2 billion for the Superfund program to support cleanup at hazardous waste sites that addresses human health and environmental hazards at the nation’s highest priority sites. While EPA will be exploring efficiencies in the program, the $70 million reduction to Superfund programs will slow the pace of new projects and completion of projects.
- Obama is calling for the elimination of a dozen tax breaks for oil, gas and coal companies to raise $46 billion over 10 years. These funds would be diverted to help pay for putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2025, doubling the share of electricity from clean energy by 2035 and a 20 percent reduction in building energy use by 2020.
- Community service block grants would be decreased by 50 percent cut in the $700 million program, which will be changed to offer competitive grants to benefit organizations that are most effective.
- Community development block grants would see a 7.5 percent reduction would reduce its funding by $300 million.
Complete budget details: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Overview