CDBG: $3.7 billion > $5.3 billion?
When is $3.7 billion better than $5.3 billion?
“We haven’t covered ‘addition by subtraction’ yet”
When it’s efficient!
Even before the President’s FY 06 budget was released, the Office of Management and Budget issued a release touting the changes as:
President Bush Proposes
Strengthening
Building on existing economic and community development efforts, the President will propose a new initiative to help strengthen
“Don’t worry, we’re giving you flexibility.”
When you go to the budget explanation itself (scroll to page 139 of the Adobe document, listed as page 135 of the report), one finds this short line item (reformatted for clarity):
2005 enacted budget authority: $5.314 billion.
2006 proposed budget authority: $3.710 billion.
Just to be clear, the budget (summarized here) states:
The 2006 Budget proposes consolidating many of the existing Federal community and economic development programs into a new $3.71 billion program within the Department of Commerce, the “Strengthening America’s Communities Grant Program.” This proposal will make better use of taxpayer dollars by eliminating duplication …
Today CDBG is administered not by Commerce but by HUD, where it is one of HUD’s most popular programs … but of course, HUD has lost its appropriations subcommittee and may have an uphill fight to keep it.
So we’re going to achieve 30% savings (3.7/5.3) by consolidating programs. And of the 18 programs to be consolidated (page 140 of the Adobe, page 136 of the report), one of them — the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) — last year was funded with $4.35 billion, plus another $0.29 billion in “CDBG set-asides.” In other words, $4.64 billion in one program is telescoping to $3.71 billion, and taking on 17 other clamoring applicants:
I’m shocked — shocked — to find that instead of expansion, we have cuts.
“The CDBG program is being cut … Round up the usual suspects.”
Of course, they may be only diversionary vaporware.
(Hat tip: Nelson Lau,
