The budget news from Washington D.C. is not good.
Our Washington D.C. correspondent Matt Kay reports that President Trump’s proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget for the Office of Insular Affairs makes significant cuts in funding for American Samoa and the other US islands.
It is a ‘no-holds barred’ budget, that seeks to shrink the size of the federal government and eliminate the annual budget deficit over ten-years.
But much of the president’s proposed request is facing slim odds on Capitol Hill, where both Democrats and Republicans oppose many of its provisions.
The islands, face a loss of nearly $6-million based on current funding levels.
The White House proposes to cut American Samoa Operations funding—the backbone of federal assistance for the territory–by $1.2 million $21.5 million…a reduction of more than 5-percent.
The funds go largely for local health and education needs, and the federal judiciary.
Meantime,the president’s budget request takes another $4.7 million from Territorial Assistance for all the islands, largely by ending $3-million in discretionary Compact Impact aid.
Permanently appropriated Compact aid remains to help defray the costs of migrants from the Freely Associated States.
The request for Territorial Assistance includes $9.4 million for Office of Insular Affairs operations including financial oversight efforts, $14.7 million for General Technical Assistance, $2.8 million for Empowering Insular Communities, and $2.8million for Brown Tree Snake Control.
And it cuts Compact of Free Association funds by more than $13-million to $3.3million, reflecting a new plan for the Defense Department to provide full funding for an enacted Palau Compact.
Congresswoman Aumua Amata Radewagen says in a prepared statement that “It’s Congress that ultimately allocates funding levels” and adds, “lawmakers must ensure any potential cuts do not come on the backs of our most economically challenged and geographically isolated populations.”
