Today, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) today applauded President Obama’s FY 2013 budget proposal for investing in America’s future while making common-sense strides toward reducing the deficit.
“President Obama knows that we need to invest in the skills and training to give people the tools necessary to achieve the American Dream – that if you work hard, you can do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement,” said Rep. Wilson. “This budget does that, while also reducing the deficit in a way that keeps our economy growing while making cuts where it makes sense to do so.”
Among the highlights of President Obama’s FY 2013 budget proposal are $161,107,000 for construction, operations and maintenance in the Everglades (through the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Project); $4,334,000 for the maintenance of the Port of Miami; and $3,250,000 for the removal of aquatic growth, an issue Rep. Wilson confronted personally when her amendment to H.R. 2484, the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2011, was approved by voice vote during a July 28, 2011 markup in the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
“By investing in our infrastructure, education, housing and technology, President Obama is leading the way so that we can out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,” Rep. Wilson said. “We must pass President Obama’s budget proposal in order to keep the American Dream alive and well for our children and grandchildren.”
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Education
• Provides $69.8 billion in discretionary spending, which is 2.5 percent, or $1.7 billion, above the 2012 enacted level.
• Invests $1.1 billion in a reauthorized Career and Technical Education program that will prepare students for the future by aligning what they learn in school with the demands of 21st Century jobs. The Budget also provides support for establishing new highly-effective career academies.
• Prepares America’s students for the 21st Century workplace by providing $260 million in funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, including a new $30 million evidence-based math education initiative to be jointly administered with a comparable program at the National Science Foundation, and $80 million to help reach the President’s goal of recruiting and preparing 100,000 high-quality STEM teachers over the next 10 years.
• Continues the Administration’s commitment to keep college affordable for students and their families by making the American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent, suspending an increase in student loan interest rates and helping to secure the future of the Pell Grant program. The Budget provides sufficient funding for a $5,635 maximum Pell Grant award, $900 above the 2008 level, which ensures access to postsecondary education for nearly 10 million needy students. The Budget also provides over 12 million borrowers with low-cost loans to attend college.
Health and Human Services
• Invests in high-quality early childhood programs, with increased funding in Child Care and Head Start to improve outcomes for America’s children and prepare them for the future.
Housing and Urban Development
• Provides $44.8 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent, or $1.4 billion, above the 2012 program funding level. Increases are made to protect vulnerable families, revitalize distressed neighborhoods and advance investments in sustainable development.
• Invests $2.3 billion to continue progress toward the Administration’s goal to end chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans and families, implementing an innovative, multi-agency strategic plan.
• Preserves funding for the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships programs at 2012 levels to enable State and local governments to continue to address infrastructure, affordable housing, and economic development needs in their communities.
• Provides $34.8 billion to preserve rental housing assistance to 4.7 million low-income families, and $154 million to expand the supply of affordable housing to seniors and persons with disabilities. The Budget also provides $1 billion to capitalize the Housing Trust Fund to expand the supply of housing targeted to very-low income families.
• Increases employment opportunities for over 30,000 Public Housing residents by providing up to $50 million to pilot an expansion of the successful Jobs-Plus demonstration, and expands local flexibility to use HUD funding to connect residents to supportive services.
National Science Foundation
• Supports future job creation in advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies with $414 million for multidisciplinary research targeted at new materials, wireless communications, cyberinfrastructure, “smart” infrastructure, and robotics technologies.
• Advances evidence-based reforms in K-16 science and math education, including improved undergraduate instruction at research universities and a joint math education initiative with the Department of Education.
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Rep. Frederica S. Wilson is a first-term Congresswoman representing the 17th District of Florida, including Northern Miami-Dade and Southeast Broward Counties. A former state legislator and school principal, she is the founder of the 5000 Role Models for Excellence Project, a mentoring program for young males at risk of dropping out of school.
