Alaska’s lone member of Congress sums up President Trump’s $4.1 trillion proposed federal budget, which includes hefty cuts in programs benefitting low income people, as “dead in Congress before the ink was even dry.”
“My argument has always been that you can’t cut your way to prosperity,” Young said May 23, in a statement on the proposed budget.
“It’s the president’s duty to submit a budget to Congress, but it’s our responsibility to implement one and to set spending,” Young said. “Largely, this budget is a vision document and people shouldn’t get overly excited. If I had to sum it up quickly, I’d say this proposal was dead in Congress before the ink was even dry.
While serious steps have to be taken to deal with the nation’s staggering debt, “We cannot solve these problems by simply cutting and shuffling around what I often call ‘old money’,” Young said.
“You have to focus on jobs, employment, economic growth, things like new manufacturing, regulatory relief, the development of our resources and so on,” he said. His job, said Young is to do what’s right for Alaska and work with Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan to lay out Alaska priorities and fund the government. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do as the appropriations process moves forward,” he said.
The proposed budget includes slashing funds for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, emergency food and shelter for the homeless, water and wastewater infrastructure, Essential Air Service subsidies, legal aid, job training, home weatherization, community development block grants, affordable housing programs, education programs and more.
“Eliminating the Denali Commission is entirely shortsighted,” Young said. This program has made critical improvements to energy, infrastructure and rural development across rural Alaska,” he said. “I will continue to defend it on the merits,” he said.
Essential Air Service also has Young’s support. “With more than 80 percent of our communities off the road system, Essential Air Service is a critical link to so many of our rural communities,” he said. “As I’ve said before, aviation in Alaska is not a luxury- as it is in other parts of the country – it’s a necessity.”
