Bay Area RESULTS News — February 2004

Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) circulated a Senate sign-on letter to the U.S. Agency for International Development urging that the increased resources for bilateral TB programs in FY 2004 are used as effectively as possible, specifically that at least $15 million of the $101 million appropriated for international TB control in 2004 be provided to the Global TB Drug Facility, which provides low-cost TB drugs to those areas of the world that need them most. $15 million could provide drugs to treat well over 1 million patients. The final list of 16 signers included both Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

In January, several Bay Area RESULTS volunteers visited Washington to participate in a strategic planning process. While we were there, we visited Senator Feinstein's foreign affairs aide. We thanked Senator Feinstein for her leadership on our issues. The aide welcomed further legislation for RESULTS to submit to Senator Feinstein for her future leadership.

We also visited an aide to Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. Rep. Lantos, along with International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL), have led on authorizing both the international initiative to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, and foreign aid for microcredit. In 2003, these well-crafted bills passed the House and Senate with overwhelming majorities. In our January meeting, we acknowledged Tom Lantos for his leadership and had a high-level strategy discussion with the aide.

The Bush administration budget for FY 2005, which begins October 1, 2004, was released February 2. Of interest to RESULTS are these areas:

• AIDS, TB and Malaria: $2.8 billion, $200 million shy of the $3 billion that Congress authorized for each of five years beginning FY 2004. In 2003, Congress appropriated $2.4 billion for FY 2004, $600 million less than the authorized amount. This $600 million should be reallocated to FY 2005.
• Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria: $200 million — far below the minimum $1.2 billion the Global Fund needs in 2005 and less than half of what Congress provided for 2004).
• Bilateral TB and malaria: cut by $80 million.
• Child Survival and Health Account: cut by over $400 million.

RESULTS will work hard to assure that Congress budgets, authorizes, and appropriates the amounts needed for these programs, rather than the inadequate funding proposed in the Bush administration budget.

The Senate sign-on letter to USAID, noted above, gained 16 signers.

The Bush administration budget for FY 2005, which begins October 1, 2004, was released February 2. Of interest to RESULTS are these areas:

• Early Childhood Education: The budget increases Head Start by $169 million, including $45 million to support state implementation of a demonstration authority to promote better coordination of existing programs. Unfortunately, the budget proposal does not include any additional funding for child care through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
• Child Nutrition: Advocates were disappointed that, contrary to earlier press reports, there is no money in the budget to implement positive changes that reduce red tape, incorporate successful pilot programs, increase program access, and improve program quality.
• Individual Development Accounts (IDAs): Our campaign for tax credits to expand IDAs gets a boost. The budget shows $134 million in tax credits "to defray the cost of establishing and running IDA programs."
• Microenterprise: A program we lobbied for in past years, the Program of Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) gets zero in this budget, and the Small Business Administration Microloan Program is also zeroed out.

RESULTS will work hard to assure that Congress budgets, authorizes, and appropriates the amounts needed for these programs, rather than the inadequate funding proposed in the Bush administration budget.