President Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget proposes a massive nearly $4 billion cut in programs the White House calls useless and bloated including the popular Legal Services Corporation that uses federal money to provide free legal help to the poor that the administration believes is a local issue.
Of 10 targeted programs, four would be eliminated, fulfilling a 2016 Trump campaign promise to kill wasteful agencies.
Many of programs and agencies have been sharply criticized for years for misusing American tax dollars, including for Netflix subscriptions. One, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, helps unions in Colombia organize, said the White House.
The proposal also calls for the end of federal land buying to add to its ownership of 700 million acres, instead focusing on bolstering firefighting and national park restoration.
The elimination of the Legal Services Corporation, which the administration has threatened before, would save taxpayers nearly $400 million. The White House said the program is “not an appropriate role for the federal government” because it “provides grant funding for legal assistance in local civil matters.”
Democrats in the House and Senate, and the nation’s lawyers, are expected to fight the cuts.
The highlights of the savings, provided in advance to Secrets, total $3.966 billion.
- Federal Land Acquisition would be reduced $187 million.
- Essential Air Services would be reduced $30 million.
- Jobs Corps would be reduced $703 million.
- Senior Community Service Employment Program would be eliminated, saving $400 million.
- Bureau of International Labor Affairs to be reduced $67 million.
- Educational and Cultural Exchanges to be cut by $336 million.
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers to be cut by $1.2 billion.
- Education and Research Centers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to be reduced $146 million.
- Letcher County Prison eliminated, saving $505 million.
- Legal Services Corporation eliminated, saving $392 million.
The administration has cited congressional and auditor criticisms of the programs.
For example the Jobs Corps has been criticized as an ineffective program that spends $35,000 per participant, more than some will make in their first job. What’s more, a Labor Department audit found criminal misconduct at the agency.
Congress in the past has chafed at cutting the programs because many send grants to hometown communities. But the Trump administration has been signaling plans to pull the federal government out of subsidizing local affairs, and that also means cutting funding ties in some cases.
Below are the administration’s highlights of the targeted programs.
Federal Land Acquisition (-$187M)
The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service cannot afford to acquire and maintain additional land. The departments are already responsible for about 700 million acres of land and are struggling to address close to $20 billion in deferred maintenance. Reducing land acquisition is necessary to focus the departments on managing existing lands and carrying out core operational activities such as serving visitors at national parks, managing forests and other natural resources, and fighting wildland fires.
21st Century Community Learning Centers (-$1.2B)
Program performance data demonstrates that 21stCCLC is not achieving its goal of helping students meet challenging State academic standards. For example, in 2016, only 26 percent of program participants improved from not proficient to proficient or above on State assessments in reading and mathematics. Nearly 60 percent of students attend 21stCCLC for fewer than 30 days a year, suggesting that the majority of families with participating students do not use the program for childcare.
Education and Research Centers (ERCs) at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (-$146M)
The ERCs were created in the 1970s to develop occupational health and safety training programs in academic institutions. Almost 50 years later, the majority of schools of public health include coursework in these areas. The budget would stop direct federal funding to support academic salaries, stipends, and tuition and fee reimbursements for occupational health professionals at universities.
Letcher County Prison (-$505M)
The federal prison population has declined nearly 16 percent since 2013, creating existing excess capacity and reducing the need for any additional new construction. While the construction of a new prison facility costs an average of $370 million, the Letcher County facility is projected to cost $510 million, or 38 percent more than the normal cost of a prison. Previously touted as an economic boon for the region, research has found that prison construction largely does not provide economic growth in rural counties, and in fact, may impede it.
Bureau of International Labor Affairs (-$67M)
Despite its role in ensuring that U.S. trade agreements are fair for American workers, the International Labor Affairs Bureau spends almost 70 percent of its budget on grants to combat child labor and promote worker rights overseas. For example, funds have been used for union organizing activities in Colombia.
Jobs Corps (-$703M)
Job Corps is an ineffective program, with a rigorous evaluation demonstrating no long-term impact on the employment and earnings of participants and costs that exceed societal benefits. At $35,000 per participant, the program is also extremely costly. Many Job Corps centers have failed to provide safe environments for their students and staff, resulting in the closure of two centers due to violence. A 2017 DOL OIG report found widespread instances of centers failing to respond effectively to potentially serious criminal misconduct.
Senior Community Service Employment Program (-$400M)
This program is duplicative of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) job training grants, which are a more appropriate funding source for helping the senior community get back into the workforce. While the program provides some income support to 60,000 individuals each year, it fails to meet its other goals of fostering economic self-sufficiency and moving low-income seniors into unsubsidized employment. A 2018 DOL’s IG report showed that leadership intentionally misused $4.2 million dollars, including invoicing taxpayers for personal travel, Netflix subscriptions, and unreasonably high compensation for senior executives
Educational and Cultural Exchanges (-$336M)
Originally created to expose foreign citizens to U.S. culture, and U.S. citizens to foreign cultures. A 2018 GAO report shows inadequate oversight and large mismanagement of program funds. Of the nearly $40 million in program expenses, 91 percent of expenses could not be supported by documentation.
Essential Air Service (-$30M)
Designed 40 years ago to retain air service in smaller communities, the Essential Air Service program is a highly expensive, outdated program that subsidizes commercial air service to rural airports. Since 1996, EAS spending has increased 600 percent. What was intended to be a temporary program has morphed into a funnel for subsidies to support largely empty flights that otherwise would never leave the ground.
Legal Services Corporation (-$392M)
Funding the Legal Services Corporation, which provides grant funding for legal assistance in local civil matters, is not an appropriate role for the federal government. In their October 2017 semiannual report, LSC’s own OIG identified several instances of waste, fraud, and abuse. Money spent for musical entertainment, floral arrangements, and cake orders made as part of efforts to recruit private attorneys, and multiple cases of unreasonable travel reimbursements for mileage between offices and residences. Again in 2017, the OIG identified employees used taxpayer money to hire a lobbyist, a violation of federal regulations.
