Bush budget mixed bag for D.C.

President Bush rejected most of D.C.’s funding requests for the proposed fiscal 2009 budget, offering instead nearly the same amount as was provided in the previous federal budget.

Overall, the proposed federal payment to the District came up short of what the city requested of the Office of Management and Budget. The city’s $104.6 million bid for education was cut to $74 million. Its $12.7 million request for the libraries was pared to $7 million. The $31.1 million pitch for the forensics lab was cut to $5 million. And the $25.3 million request for security costs related to the federal presence, including the 2009 inauguration, garnered only $15 million.