Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Policy Counsel Yana Miles issued the following statement today after President Donald Trump Released his budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018:
President Trump has crafted a budget that will severely impact consumers, especially those with low-to-moderate incomes. From disadvantaged youth served by Job Corps centers across the country to senior citizens trying to transition to financial limitations in what should be their golden years, this budget proposal harms far more than it helps.
Although education is generally viewed as the ladder to financial security, this budget would widen economic divides for some and deepen societal divisions for others. Its $9 billion cut in current education funding includes $3.9 million in cuts to Pell Grant revenues that would have been carried over. Despite public commitments to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the budget would not increase finding to institutions that serve high percentages of minority students, and significantly reduce the Federal Work Study program.
In housing, the proposed budget would end some of HUD’s most successful programs that help underserved communities including: Community Development Block Grants, THE HOME Investment Partnerships, Choice Neighborhoods and the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity.
The Legal Services Corporation and Neighborworks would also be eliminated.
By proposing to limit federal involvement in many key issues, this budget would shift many of its responsibilities to local and state governments without added revenues. The private sector, particularly philanthropic organizations are presumed to pick up unfunded needs.
This proposal will do little to help people who are struggling to make ends meet. As Congress considers the president’s budget, it is our hope that our federal lawmakers fight to restore crucial funding to programs that put working families first.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Ricardo Quinto at ricardo.quinto@responsiblelending.org or 919.313.8523.