President Trump released the outlines of his Fiscal Year 2020 budget request on March 11 - a relatively short document known as the "skinny budget" containing topline number for major programs, with details to come later.
Our initial analysis shows that several programs and agencies of interest to PAA members would face significant cuts under the president's plan:
- Census Bureau: Allocates $7.2 Billion for the entire Bureau; Commerce Department's own estimates last fall stated $7.4 Billion is needed for the Decennial Census alone.
- National Institutes of Health (NIH): Cut of $5.4 Billion, or 14%
- National Center for Health Statistics: Cut of $5.4 Million, or 3.5%
- National Science Foundation (NSF): Cut of $969 Million, or 12%
- USAID - Reproductive Health/Family Planning: Cut of $370 Million, or 61%
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): Increase of $40 Million, or 6.5%**
As with all presidential budget requests, this is merely a blueprint of the Administration's priorities, and does not necessarily reflect the will of Congress - this is particularly true given that the House of Representatives is now controlled by the Democrats. However, given the overall spending caps enacted in the Budget Control Act of 2011, a bi-partisan agreement to lift the caps will be required to avoid severe cuts in non-defense discretionary categories.
**The proposed increase to BLS, in the amount of $40 million, is allocated entirely to funding required to pay for the physical relocation of BLS by FY 2024, including the relocation of the BLS data center. Thus, the President's request for BLS is essentially level funding for programs and personnel.
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