President Trump’s 2018 Budget Attacks Vulnerable Communities
Newsroom: Public Statements May 24, 2017

President Trump’s 2018 Budget Attacks Vulnerable Communities

On May 23, 2017, the Trump Administration unveiled its full Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget proposal, “A New Foundation for American Greatness.” The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD) rejects a budget proposal that dramatically reshapes the course of our nation’s federal spending and shows a blatant disregard for vulnerable Americans and low-income individuals. This budget severely diminishes anti-poverty and safety net programs through $1.5 trillion in non-defense discretionary cuts while increasing defense spending by half a trillion dollars. Ultimately, it starves our communities when we are in a time of most need.
 
President Trump’s FY 2018 budget reaffirms the sentiment that our communities are not important to this Administration. While hard-working Americans families are being deprived of the programs they need to survive, this Administration is also planning to provide major tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. Federal investments in affordable housing would be cut by nearly 15% compared to FY 2017 through overall decreased funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
 
Some of the programs that would be eliminated include:

  • The Community Development Block Grant (which includes Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program), Choice Neighborhoods, HOME Investments Partnerships Program, Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) administered under HUD;
  • The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Community Services Block Grant under the Department of Health and Human Services;
  • The Community Development Financial Institutions Program under the Department of the Treasury; and
  • Minority Business Development Agency within the Department of Commerce.

  Additionally, this budget would significantly decrease:

  • The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax credit by over $40 billion in the next ten years;
  • Rental assistance programs (which includes Housing Choice Vouchers, Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance, and Housing for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities) by almost $2 billion for FY 2018;
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $193 billion in cuts over the next  decade;
  • Medicaid by $1.4 trillion in over the course of a decade; and
  • Housing counseling program funding from $55 million through the FY 2017 continuing resolution to $47 million for FY 2018.

The consequences of this budget would be disproportionately harmful to working-class Americans across the nation, including seniors, communities of color, people with disabilities, rural as well as urban working families, and the homeless. National CAPACD stands by our mission to support those most vulnerable in our communities and the values of inclusion we put forth in our response to this Administration’s “Skinny Budget." We urge members of Congress to reject this president’s budget as we continue the fight alongside our allies to defend the programs critical to our communities.