President’s Budget Proposal Puts Bay Area at Risk

As details of President Trumps proposed budget – entitled, “America First – A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again” – are revealed, it is increasingly clear that it includes spending cuts that put the Bay Area at great risk.

So much so, that Senator Dianne Feinstein said this week, “This is the most draconian budget I’ve ever seen proposed by a president… An absolute travesty for California and every state or community that thought they had a true partner in the federal government.”

Specifically, the budget includes the following:

  • A $1 billion cut to the Army Corps of Engineers, which does much of the dredging and flood protection activity in the San Francisco Bay.
  • Elimination of funding for climate change initiatives and restoration of major bodies of water, including San Francisco Bay.
  • Elimination of 50 Environmental Protection Agency programs and 3,200 EPA staff positions.
  • A 10% cut in funding for the Department of the Interior.
  • Elimination of $250 million in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management and research.
  • Reduction of state and local Federal Emergency Management Agency grant funding by $667 million.
  • A major decrease in the Department of Transportation’s discretionary budget and other DOT initiatives, putting regional infrastructure projects like the planned Bay Area Rapid Transit extension to San Jose and Santa Clara at risk.

Bay Planning Coalition will continue to monitor these developments as the budget process moves ahead. Please feel free to contact us with information about how your organization or project will be directly affected so that we can build a list of examples to include in our advocacy on this issue.

The Bay Planning Coalition is a non-profit organization well known for its advocacy and credibility in the San Francisco Bay Area corporate and environmental community. When we speak about an issue, legislators and regulators listen.” – John A. Coleman CEO

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