Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar said a proposed Republican budget would negatively affect South Texas by reducing or eliminating funding for programs that support housing, nutrition, healthcare, and community development. In a statement released in Washington, D.C., Cuellar said, “The administration’s budget proposal takes direct aim at the programs South Texans count on.”
Cuellar said the proposal would eliminate Community Development Block Grants, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing, resulting in fewer affordable housing projects and the cancellation of infrastructure improvements. “That means fewer affordable homes get built, street and water projects get canceled, and local communities lose the tools they need to grow their economies,” he said.
The proposal also includes a $1.4 billion reduction to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Cuellar said the cuts would significantly reduce food benefits for families, stating that monthly fruit and vegetable support would drop from $54 to $13 for breastfeeding mothers and from $27 to $10 for young children. “That takes fresh, healthy food out of the mouths of mothers and their children,” he said.
Cuellar said the budget would eliminate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps families pay electricity bills during periods of extreme heat, as well as Community Services Block Grants, which provide direct support to reduce poverty. He added that proposed cuts of $6 billion from the National Institutes of Health and $2.5 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would limit medical research and weaken public health systems.
Additional reductions outlined in the proposal include a $10.7 billion cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a $4.9 billion reduction in the U.S. Department of Agriculture discretionary budget, and a 51 percent cut to Small Business Administration funding. The plan also calls for reductions to housing assistance, education programs, and workforce development initiatives.
“These decisions don’t make the need go away,” Cuellar said. “They put more pressure on families and communities already dealing with higher costs.” He added that, as a senior appropriator, he would oppose the proposed cuts and work to protect programs that support South Texas communities.
