The White House recently released A Budget for a Better America, the administration’s 2020 federal budget proposal. We’re providing an update on several key budget items including Census 2020, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and national service funding.

• Census 2020: The budget includes $7.2 billion in funding for the census. This is an increase from the proposed 2019 fiscal budget which included $3.8 billion for the U.S. Census Bureau to fund investments in information technology and field infrastructure. 

  • In Michigan: CMF continues to encourage our lawmakers to support efforts to achieve a complete count in 2020. As we know, Michigan stands to lose $1,800 for every person who isn’t counted, every year for 10 years.

  • Some national organizations calculate that the current budget request for the 2020 Census is about $135 million less than what the Census Bureau requested for the current fiscal year (FY 2017) but still is under consideration due to the continuing resolution.

• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI): The budget proposes a 90 percent reduction in funding to the GLRI. The GLRI, which received bipartisan support in Congress, is aimed at ensuring a healthy future for our lakes and protecting them from pollution, invasive species and other environmental threats.

  • In Michigan: Senator Debbie Stabenow, co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, released a statement saying she will lead the bipartisan effort to restore full funding to the GLRI for the fourth year in a row.

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): The budget includes reducing spending for SNAP by 30 percent over the next decade. This was also recommended last budget cycle.

  • In Michigan: Nearly one in seven Michigan residents receives SNAP benefits.

• Health Care: The budget calls for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Medicaid expansion.

  • In Michigan: The Healthy Michigan Plan, available through the Medicaid expansion under the ACA, provides approximately 683,455 low income residents with access to health care. The Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation (CHRT), a nonprofit and nonpartisan impact organization, says the HMP has added economic activity that generates $150 million in state tax revenue annually. 

The budget calls for the elimination of funding for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

As CMF has reported these are the same programs that have been slated for elimination in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 budget proposals but they received bipartisan support in the final versions passed by lawmakers.

Michigan lawmakers will be deliberating the budget along with their fellow members of Congress in the coming months.