releases: http://sablan.house.gov/fy17-budget-highlights
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://sablan.house.gov/fy17-budget-highlights | FY17 budget highlights | 2016-02-16 | 2016 | 2016-02 | Independent | Senate | MP | Gregorio Sablan | S001177 | sablan.house.gov | legacy | FY17 budget highlights Feb 15, 2016 President Obama sent his Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal to Congress last Tuesday. This is the final set of spending priorities the President will submit before ending his time in office. From the hundreds of pages of explanations, legislative language, and allocation tables we have selected a few items of key interest to the Northern Mariana Islands: Education: Funding increase for NMI schools. Last year’s reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act made only one change to the Title I program that supports students from low-income families: my proposal to increase funding for the Northern Marianas and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The increase is contingent in an overall increase in Title I funding, which the President has now proposed for FY17. If the President’s request for $15.36 billion, $450 million over the 2016 enacted level, is approved, then funding for the Marianas Public School System will go up from about $6.8 million this year to $11.2 million in 2017, a $4.4 million increase for our students. Healthcare: Equal treatment under Medicaid. A long-sought goal of insular areas— getting the same funding as U.S. states for Medicaid coverage of low income persons—is part of the President’s budget proposal. The budget removes the cap on funding, which is currently about $5.5 million per year for the Northern Mariana Islands, although the Affordable Care Act has tripled that through 2019. And the President proposes a gradual increase in the share of Medicaid costs covered by the federal government as territories modernize their Medicaid programs. Currently, insular areas cover 45 percent, the federal government 55 percent. But in some states the federal percentage is as high as 74 percent. Extending the Compact with Palau: $273 million over ten years. The President’s budget includes the funding necessary for the extension of the Compact of Free Association with Palau. (See story below.) Air Force land lease in NMI: $9 million. The Air Force included $9,002,000 in its military construction budget request to lease 7.1 hectares of land in support of the divert activities and exercises initiative. (See story below.) While not specified in the budget, the land will be identified during negotiations with the Commonwealth, which are expected to begin this summer. According to a Navy real estate survey, the cost to acquire the land by fee is $3.2 million, but the budget reports the Air Force is prepared to lease the property at a higher cost in order to conform to the Covenant agreement to acquire only the minimum real property interest necessary to meet mission requirements. Office of Insular Affairs: Funds increased to address economic challenges. The President’s budget adds funds for insular area energy security, protection of natural and cultural resources, and adaptation to climate change: Technical assistance, primarily for climate resilience projects: +$5.6 m. Maintenance assistance to improve school facilities: +3.9 m. Invasive species control under the Coral Reef Program: +$1 m. (corresponding $500,000 reduction in Brown Tree Snake Control) Empowering insular communities to cut residential energy costs: +$2 m. Compact Impact program remains unchanged at $3 million. Clean Water and Drinking Water funds cut. A change we have been able to include in every appropriation bill since FY10 has raised water and sewer infrastructure funding for the Marianas from under $1 million in 2009 to over $6 million every year since. But for FY17 the President has recommended cutting nationwide funding for the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water funds from $2.3 billion to $2 billion. If the President’s proposal is enacted, funds for the NMI would be reduced from this year’s $6.5 million to $5.9 million. Community Development Block Grants hold steady. Although the President proposed reducing the Community Development Block Grant from $3 billion to $2.8 billion, he did not change a $7 million set-aside for the insular areas. So annual funding for the Marianas would be unchanged. CDBG pays for neighborhood revitalization projects such as the Kagman Community Park, which has just gone out to bid. Inflation increase added for Section 8 vouchers. Nationally, and in the Northern Marianas, demand exceeds funding for this low-income housing assistance. While the President has proposed an additional $765.5 million over the FY16 level, the new money only covers increases in rental costs, and will not open the program to more families. Full funding for WIOA. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act was drafted in the Education and the Workforce Committee, where I sit. But funding for training and skills development the Act authorizes lagged last year. For FY17, the President has returned the WIOA formula grants to the full amount we authorized. In the NMI, WIOA’s Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker programs are currently receiving $1.39 million. To see the President’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget in full, go to the Office of Management and Budget website. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |