President's budget to include family leave plan
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — May 23, 2017
The budget expected to be rolled out Tuesday would drive millions of people off of food stamps. When President Trump originally proposed mandatory maternity leave in September, he was criticized for leaving off fathers and adoptive parents.
The proposal to be unveiled next week will put the onus on states to create their own programs.
Democrats have long championed a federal paid leave policy, but they could push back against the limited scope of Trump's plan.
The US is the only industrialized country that does not provide paid parental leave.
One option likely to be part of the plan is asset recycling, in which the federal government offers an incentive to encourage a state or municipality to lease a public asset to the private sector in return for an upfront payment that can be used for other projects that lack funding, according to the official. Although not required by law, 58 percent of companies replace at least some wages for women during maternity leave, while 12 percent cover some leave for fathers, the Washington Post reported. Republicans have generally been against such initiatives.
It looks like the Trump administration's first comprehensive budget for the coming year will contain major spending increases for defense and draconian cuts in domestic programs. For example, it calls for a net $9.2 billion cut to the Department of Education, which would come from eliminating at least 22 programs, including after-school programs that serve 1.6 million children (most from low-income families) and a $15 million program that provides child care for low-income parents in college.
"It's a major step forward, and it's better than zero, which is what parents are guaranteed now", said Jeffrey Hayes, program director of job quality and income security at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start program will maintain the same level of funding.
A Republican healthcare bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in early May seeks to overhaul the national healthcare system and cut more than $800 billion over the next 10 years from Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
School choice has always been a pet initiative for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, but a federal study released at the end of April found that students in their first year at a private school in the District of Columbia, the only federally funded school choice program, did far worse on standardized tests than their public school peers in several important metrics.
Administration officials are examining the use of federal grants and loans as well as other vehicles to spur the investment, much as the existing Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program leverages federal funding for state and local spending, the official said.
Those familiar with the plan are not authorized to discuss it by name and request anonymity. The $200 billion in the budget being released next week would be mostly spent between years two through six in the 10-year budget window, the official said, adding that it would be offset to avoid adding to the deficit.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has said the administration is providing principles for its infrastructure plan this month, with a complete legislative package expected by the third quarter.