Serrano Statement on GOP Budget

“C.R. Cuts Are Irresponsible, Extreme... will CUT jobs by the thousands. I cannot convey more strongly how ill-advised this is.”

Serrano: “C.R. Cuts Are Irresponsible, Extreme”

Washington, D.C. – February 12, 2011 – Congressman José E. Serrano denounced the extreme cuts to the Financial Services and General Government section of the Continuing Resolution that were released late last night for the rest of Fiscal Year 2011. By cutting the Financial Services section from $24.1 billion last year to $20.4 billion for all of FY2011, the drastic decreases will cause great damage to the agencies and departments—costing jobs and curtailing their ability to carry out their basic functions.

“These Tea Party-driven cuts are beyond draconian; they are irresponsible and extreme,” said Congressman Serrano. “This is not a belt-tightening exercise, but rather an ideologically-driven attack on the core functions that American people expect their government to carry out.

“How can you cut $600 million dollars from the IRS during tax season? How is it smart to shut down all construction and repairs on government buildings – laying off thousands of private sector construction workers? Why would it be a good idea to essentially take apart the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which supports growth and job creation across the nation? Or why would hobbling the SEC just after a financial crisis caused by lack of oversight be a wise plan?

“These cuts show that instead of focusing on creating jobs, the Republicans have undertaken an anti-government extremist approach, which perversely will CUT jobs by the thousands. I cannot convey more strongly how ill-advised this is.”

Some of the more egregious cuts are listed below.

• The Department of the Treasury will take a $1.1 billion cut from FY2010, even as it works to undo the damage wrought by the financial crisis;
  • Within Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service will be cut by $600 million from FY2010, immediately impacting service during tax season; 
• The General Services Administration will see a cut of $1.7 billion from FY2010, halting all new building construction and severely limiting repairs and renovation to government buildings, with the concurrent loss of thousands of construction jobs;
• The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund will go from $246 million last year to $50 million this year, ending its work to support financial institutions making investments in low-income or disadvantaged communities. 
• The Securities and Exchange Commission will see a $25 million drop from last year, which will prevent it from hiring the staff it needs to carry out the critical new Dodd-Frank financial oversight functions that it has been given;
• The Election Assistance Commission will see its budget drop from $93 million last year to $10 million this year, effectively ending its work to help states with their election practices and equipment;
• The District of Columbia will see a $79 million cut from last year, precisely as the city faces a budget crisis, and despite the fact that DC is hobbled by federal policies in generating new revenue. Further, the C.R. adds social riders, prohibiting DC from using locally-raised funds as it sees fit.

“This is not a scalpel approach to budget reductions—cutting where it can be absorbed and without affecting healthy functions and jobs—it is the equivalent of taking a heavy blunt object to these agencies’ budgets,” added Serrano. “I believe that the majority, forced by their extremist Tea Party wing, have overstepped what little mandate they had from the last election. They will suffer when the American people realize the ideologically extreme and callous approach they have taken to our government and its core functions. These cuts are unacceptable, and the American people will not stand for them.” 

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