DeLauro Vows Battle
Vs. Block Grant Cuts

In the shadow of proposed cuts to social services and not-for-profit community groups under a Republican-supported federal budget, U.S Rep. Rosa DeLauro told mayors and first selectmen from her district that she will fight to protect block grant funding.

She said she’ll be fighting social service funding cuts not only in a budget proposed by the GOP-led U.S. House of Representativs for the current fiscal year, but in Democratic President Obama’s budget for next year as well.

More than 20 mayors and public servants from the third district gathered at the 91 Diner on Middletown Avenue Friday afternoon to hear DeLauro read off the numerous budget cuts that could directly affect services and spending in New Haven and other cities.

One particular cut would hit towns hard: a reduction in funding to Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which cities dole out to social-service initiatives and use for assistance for some of their poorest residents. For background on the cuts in New Haven, see here.

New Haven officials are currently working to find ways to redistribute that reduced funding.

At the moment, there are two federal budgets to consider, one for the current fiscal year, and the other for next. The first, proposed by President Obama for the 2012 fiscal year beginning this October, would see a $300 million, or 7.5 percent cut in CDBG funding as the president attempts to trim a $1.5 trillion national deficit. That translates to a $3.3 million cut for Connecticut. Obama’s plan spares Pell Educational Grants and provides for investment in research and transportation.

The second, a Republican majority-proposed bill which passed the House last week and moves to the Senate this week, would cut CDBG funding by $28 million for this fiscal year — through Sept. 30.

“I support the President’s budget,” DeLauro said. ​“But only apart from those cuts to CDBG and LIHEAP [the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program].”

The congresswoman pledged to leaders Friday that she would fight for a reduction of the cuts in Obama’s budget and against the passage of the more drastic House budget.

DeLauro said she clued mayors in to the specifics of Obama’s budget and the House-passed bill during the meeting. ​“And I will make their voices heard to the Senate,” she said. ​“And we’ll be in touch with Senators Blumenthal and Lieberman about what’s important, like these CDBG cuts.”

Mayor John DeStefano’s chief of staff, Sean Matteson, represented New Haven at Friday’s meeting, which DeLauro holds annually.

“These CDBG cuts should be noteworthy to New Haven residents and other Connecticut towns,” Matteson said. ​“I’m really concerned about these House Republican cuts. They seem to really be targeting low-income people and women and children in particular.”

But DeLauro, he said, is on the their side — she supports CDBG funding and will do her best to protect it.

“We won’t achieve economic recovery if we don’t invest in people and communities,” DeLauro said. ​“We have to strike a balance.”

Cuts shouldn’t come from towns, but from corporate subsidies, DeLauro said. She cited subsidies to the agricultural and oil industries. ​“We give $40 billion to oil companies,” she said. ​“That money would go a long way to reducing the $60 billion of proposed cuts under the House budget.”

Other cuts in the Republican budget, DeLauro explained, include $5 billion from job-training programs and nearly $2 million in educational grants. The House budget would also rescind funds already approved but not distributed for TIGER grants and the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield high-speed rail line.

Asked about the feasibility of reducing cuts under a Republican majority, DeLauro called for bipartisan cooperation. ​“This is hitting everyone in towns, not just Democrats,” she said. ​“We’re looking for common ground, and that’s the only way we’ll succeed in bringing some relief.”