Washington Post story detailing budget cuts released Thursday
Below, see press releases issued by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, both Democrats, on the Trump budget.
Shaheen on Trump Budget Outline: A Blueprint for Undermining the Health and Well-Being of Granite Staters, Particularly Seniors
(Washington, DC)—Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) released the following statement after reviewing the budget outline released by the Trump administration for fiscal year 2018:
“The Trump administration should immediately go back to the drawing board,” said Shaheen. “This budget is a blueprint for undermining the health and well-being of Granite Staters and would be particularly devastating for seniors. It’s needless and cruel to drastically cut programs that so many people in New Hampshire depend on like Meals on Wheels and heating assistance. It also makes no sense to cut clean air and water programs, coastal protection, and economic development to struggling rural communities.
“This budget outline also makes us less safe by decimating our nation’s diplomatic corps and underfunding airport security. I’ve always sought bipartisan cooperation to find savings across the federal government but this can done without disproportionately targeting programs that are so important to New Hampshire. Republicans and Democrats agree that there should be continued investments in these programs and President Trump should expect broad bipartisan opposition to this mindless proposal.”
The following are some of the devastating proposals included in the Trump administration’s budget outline:
- Eliminating the Northern Border Regional Commission, which has invested millions in economic development projects in Coos, Grafton, Carroll and Sullivan counties;
- Eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides heating assistance to New Hampshire families and seniors during winter months;
- Eliminating the Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps lower the cost of energy for low-income families by making energy efficiency modifications to their homes;
- A 31 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including grant programs that have helped New Hampshire fight air pollution, improve water quality, as well as a major cut to Superfund cleanup efforts.
Hassan: Trump’s Budget is Built for Corporate Special Interests, Would Hurt New Hampshire’s Middle Class Families and Economic Priorities
WASHINGTON – Senator Hassan, D-NH, released the following statement on President Trump’s proposed budget:
“President Trump’s budget is built for corporate special interests, not hard-working families and small businesses. The Trump budget makes indiscriminate cuts that will make it harder for entrepreneurs to grow job-creating small businesses, harder for children to access a high-quality public education, and harder for seniors to stay in their own homes and live independently.
“President Trump’s budget would undermine efforts to strengthen our health care workforce, making it more difficult to combat the heroin, fentanyl and opioid crisis. It would slash funding for life-saving medical research. And it would cripple our ability to fight climate change, which threatens New Hampshire’s economy and our way of life.
“This budget is not fiscally responsible, it does not reflect New Hampshire’s economic priorities or America’s best interests, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that it does not become reality.”