CBO Director Keith Hall responded to a request from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to project the impact of the billion CHIP rescission package. The CBO letter estimates that the rescission “would not affect outlays, or the number of individuals with insurance coverage.” Well this is good news, I guess? Except, the key here is this is based upon the present number of children enrolled in CHIPS. However, “In its estimates, CBO doesn’t (and can’t) assume recessions or natural disasters will happen. So while the CBO expects that the Contingency Fund dollars being rescinded will not be needed by some states, it is critical for sufficient funding to remain available in the event of an unforeseen recession or natural disaster.” Part of the funds being
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CBO Director Keith Hall responded to a request from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to project the impact of the $7 billion CHIP rescission package. The CBO letter estimates that the rescission “would not affect outlays, or the number of individuals with insurance coverage.”
Well this is good news, I guess? Except, the key here is this is based upon the present number of children enrolled in CHIPS. However, “In its estimates, CBO doesn’t (and can’t) assume recessions or natural disasters will happen. So while the CBO expects that the Contingency Fund dollars being rescinded will not be needed by some states, it is critical for sufficient funding to remain available in the event of an unforeseen recession or natural disaster.”
Part of the funds being clawed back by Trump and Republicans are in the Contingency Fund which is maintained the same as what states do in establishing a rainy-day fund. It is a reserve set aside to meet economic or catastrophic events. If we depended upon Congress to allocate funding immediately after catastrophic events, we would be waiting a long time. Even Texas was complaining about a slow response by Congress after a hurricane hit recently. And Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico is the result of deliberate negligence on the part of the President. Neither Dems or Repubs will protest the president’s discrimination.
Joan Akers at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families had this to say:
“Two billion dollars in cuts would come from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund.” As I said, the Contingency Fund is a reserve put in place to help and prevent states from running out of money. In a case of disaster or shortfall, there is little time to react. Unforeseen disasters and shortfalls do not wait for the politics of Congress to turn. Having a reserve available to cover unforeseen circumstance makes sense.
The other $5 billion comes from the actual funding. Over time some of the CHIP funding authorized is not spent leaving an excess. In the past, a fully aware Congress of the excess has reached a bipartisan agreement to allow allocation of the excess and unspent funds authorized solely for CHIPS to be used for other children’s programs. Trump’s clawback violates the bipartisanism on Congress to use these funds solely for children’s programs. A clawback of these funds is unlikely to impact states’ CHIP programs unless there is a shortfall; however, it does take away the bipartisan history of a Congress to utilize these funds in ways to continue to help low income children and families.
OMB Deputy Director Russ Vought had this to say: “Rescinding these funds will have no impact on the program. At some point Congress will likely ‘rescind’ those funds as a budget gimmick to offset new spending elsewhere (the elsewhere in the past has been other programs benefiting children), as it did on the recently passed omnibus. Instead Congress should rescind the money now.”
This statement comes after the past budget contingency funds were used to keep CHIPS afloat after the regular funding lapsed while Trump and Repubs held CHIPS hostage in a plan to force Dems to support ACA changes . . . a Sophie’s choice so to speak. Furthermore, a rescission of money not spent would not reduce the deficit created by the tax cuts according to David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University.
run75441 @ Angry Bear Blog