February 16, 2004—The White House presented Congress with a $2.4 trillion budget January 2 that asks lawmakers to make tough choices, including reducing the budgets of six federal departments and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reports the American Institute of Architects (AIA). True to the priorities President Bush outlined in his State of the Union address, his budget calls for a 10 percent increase for homeland security, a 7 percent increase for defense, a 22 percent increase in foreign operations, and a $1.2 trillion tax cut over the next 10 years.
The Department of Health and Human Services would be trimmed by 2 percent, Treasury and Transportation departments would see a 4 percent cut, and the EPA would be shaved by 13 percent. Funding for several other programs would be cut to zero from their 2004 budgets under the White House plan, including a brownfields redevelopment grant program from $25 million.
The FY2005 budget does include a $30 million increase in funding for infrastructure protection activities at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The budget also calls on the Department to continue its work in identifying the nations key infrastructure assets (buildings, monuments, and transportation, and energy facilities), assessing their risk from possible terrorist attack, and developing and implementing protective measures.
In all, the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate at Homeland Security, which coordinates protection of the nations buildings and other infrastructure, would receive $864 billion in the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2004, a 4 percent increase over the current funding. In addition, the Science and Technology Directorate, which researches anti-terror technologies, would receive a little more than $1 billion for 2005, a 14 percent increase.
For more information, contact AIA Government Affairs at 202-626-7515.
