4/5/2004 - NCLR STATEMENT ON PASSAGE OF HOUSE BUDGET RESOLUTION

Washington, D.C. – Last night the United States House of Representatives passed a budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2005. This came three weeks after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a report on employment figures for February 2004, showing an increase in unemployment for Hispanics. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) believes that both the BLS statistics and the House budget resolution are cause for concern for the Hispanic community and the nation as a whole.
According to the BLS, the number of employed people overall in February 2004 was 138 million, down by 265,000 from January. The number of employed Hispanics that month was 17 million, down 138,000 from January. Thus, Latinos accounted for 52% of the total decrease in the number of employed persons from January to February 2004.
Unfortunately, the House budget resolution will do little to turn this trend around. In fact, this budget blueprint could further erode Hispanic employment rates in the near and long terms. Specifically, the budget resolution’s discretionary spending amounts for education and training fail to keep up with inflation or population growth.
NCLR has cautioned Congress and the Administration against balancing the budget on the backs of Hispanics and other working Americans. The House budget blueprint cannot be accused of this because, while it fails to invest in programs vital to the Hispanic community and raises taxes on Hispanic and other low-income workers, it would actually increase the budget deficit.
NCLR understands that our nation has many needs, and difficult decisions will have to be made for the FY 2005 budget. We urge Congress and the Administration not to make decisions that bring short-term political benefits but cause long-term harm to the economy. Hispanics will constitute a large segment of the future workforce and, therefore, will play a significant role in maintaining our nation’s Social Security system, homeland security, and transportation infrastructure. Failing to invest in the Hispanic community will have long-term negative effects on the nation as a whole.
NCLR believes that the budget resolution approved by the House reflects misplaced priorities by providing more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans which have thus far failed to produce employment opportunities for low- and moderate-income Americans and increased our budget deficit, while targeting education, training, and health programs for cuts. We hope that Congress and the Administration will reject this blueprint and adopt a budget that provides Americans with real employment opportunities and strengthens our nation’s economic outlook.
For more information on the budget, please see the following websites:
House Budget Committee: http://www.house.gov/budget/ or http://www.house.gov/budget_democrats/ Office of Management and Budget: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/
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March 26, 2004 Contact: Lisa Navarrete
Eric Rodriguez
(202) 785-1670

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