On March 15, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) released its alternative budget for fiscal year 2018. The budget focuses on programs and policies that will help Blacks and other Americans. CBC Chairman U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) said the organization’s federal budget proposal will protect social safety net programs, close tax loopholes for the rich, provide universal health care by adding a public option to Obamacare, making college more affordable by reducing interest rates on student loans and investing more money in HBCUs.
U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that the CBC’s budget proposal would cut the national deficit by $2.9 trillion over the next decade. (AP Photo/Zach Gibson, File)
“You won’t find billion-dollar handouts for the wealthy and drastic cuts to domestic programs in our budget,” Richmond said. “A budget reflects priorities and our budget prioritizes improving the lives of Americans and their families by ensuring that they can go to the doctor when they’re sick, get a college degree if they want one, find a good job that pays a living wage, and pay a lower rate in taxes than President Trump. President Trump says he wants to make America great again: well, in order to do that, he’ll need a budget that makes economic sense for the African-American community and the rest of the nation.”
The first time the CBC created its own federal budget was in 1981, in response to President Reagan’s unprecedented cuts in social and government aid programs and an increase in military spending. Since then, the CBC has proffered its own federal budget regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House.
The driving force behind the CBC’s budget plan this year is Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who has helped devise the CBC federal budget plan for the past 10 years and collaborates with the Democratic staff of the House Budget Committee to finalize it.
Scott said that the CBC budget is a responsible blueprint for the nation. “The CBC budget makes targeted investments in programs that support working families, students, seniors, and the most vulnerable in our communities,” Scott said. “At the same time, the CBC budget actually improves the fiscal situation in our nation by reducing the deficit by nearly $2.9 trillion over the next decade.”
The president’s budget, no matter who is in the White House, is usually not passed in totality by the U.S. Congress. Both House and Senate lawmakers make adjustments.
While the CBC budget has never been passed by a Congress, when the Democrats are in charge of both chambers, many of their ideas, such as additional funding for HBCUs and housing programs, become prominent in the final budget that is passed.
“There is input from all of the members,” Paul Brathwaite, a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, told the AFRO. “It is an inclusive process. Also, keep in mind that while members of the CBC generally are progressive, you do have some moderates.
Nevertheless, all members of the CBC want government to function properly and want the lives of their constituents to improve.”
John Bullock, a political scientist who taught at Towson State University and represents District 9 on the Baltimore City Council, said there is zero chance the CBC budget will become operational given the Republican majorities in both houses and Trump in the White House. Nevertheless, he told the AFRO what the CBC is doing is important. “It is a moral document,” Bullock said. “With President Trump cutting health care, food programs and education, the CBC is saying this is where our priorities are.”