Budget socks it to poor
A federal program designed to stimulate local economies will take a huge hit if President Bush’s spending plan passes Congressional scrutiny. The Appalachian Regional Commission last month removed Fayette and Greene counties from the “distressed” list that entitled the counties to receive automatic funding. Since the counties are barely above the direst economic indicators, both were well positioned to compete for other ARC funding. One ARC official acknowledged that while Fayette and Greene were no longer lingering on death beds, they are still in need of intensive care. Financial aid would still be offered.
However, the president’s spending plan deals a tremendous hit to one of the country’s poorest regions. His budget cuts the current $66 million funding level in half.
We call on our congressmen, John Murtha and Bill Shuster, to keep this from happening. The ARC funds, hardly worth noting in a $2.23 trillion budget, must be kept at least at the current level. Communities throughout the Appalachian chain count on these federal grants to leverage other pockets of money in order to build plants and lines that bring clean drinking water into homes and remove waste water, host job training programs, build high-speed Internet connections, and fund health clinics. These are not just quality-of-life issues for the people living here but are the building blocks to make the area attractive to businesses so that eventually the need for government assistance evaporates.
The Appalachian Regional Commission is a relatively inexpensive federal program that has made a tremendous difference in communities. Murtha and Shuster need to make sure that its mission isn’t aborted.