President’s Proposed Budget Signals Big Shift From Bush-Era Spending

The $3.5-trillion federal budget that President Obama has proposed for 2010 is a far different document than those offered recently by his predecessor.

Where President Bush sought to squeeze spending on social services, arts, health care, and other domestic programs, Mr. Obama generally wants to spend more money as he follows through on his campaign promises and tries to steer the country through a deep recession.

But the Obama budget would eliminate spending on some social-service programs that had been staples of the Bush era.

Mr. Obama sought no money for the Bush administration’s Compassion Capital Fund, which helps charities and religious groups provide social services and which received $48-million in 2009.

Instead, Mr. Obama proposed spending $50-million on a new program, the Strengthening Communities Fund, to help charities improve their ability to provide social services to needy people.

The White House also sought no money for another Bush administration favorite: abstinence education, on which $133-million is now being spent.

Rather, Mr. Obama asked Congress to spend $164-million to create a new program to prevent pregnancy among teenagers that would be administered largely by nonprofit groups.

Much of the money would be awarded to groups that can run programs based on evidence of what works best to prevent teenage pregnancy. In addition, money would be awarded for research and evaluation to determine what works.

Many charities praised Mr. Obama’s overall budget plan, but not all were pleased.

The administration’s plan to spend $8.6-billion next year on what Mr. Obama called a “new, comprehensive global-health strategy” drew ire from some global-health charities, which say he has requested far less to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria than he had previously pledged.

Several nonprofit organizations criticized the White House for wanting to cut spending on the Enhancing Education Through Technology program from the current $269-million to $100-million. The administration said that money from the economic-stimulus law would be available to help make up for the reduction in budget allocations for the program, which helps bring technology into classrooms.

The White House was knocked for not seeking enough of an increase for the Peace Corps, which would receive about $374-million, or a 10-percent increase, under Mr. Obama’s proposal. Kevin Quigley, president of the National Peace Corps Association, said the group needs much more from the government because Americans are responding to the president’s call to service and more countries are asking for Peace Corps volunteers.

Mr. Obama’s budget proposal asked Congress to eliminate or reduce spending on 121 programs, saving nearly $17-billion and affecting many charities.

Among the programs that would be eliminated is the Student Mentoring Program, which now receives $47-million. The administration said the program, run by the U.S. Department of Education, was found to be ineffective in a recent study.

Among other items in the president’s budget of particular interest to nonprofit groups:

Arts and humanities. Mr. Obama proposed that the National Endowment for the Humanities receive about $171-million, up $16-million, or more than 10 percent, from 2009. The administration wants to increase the appropriation for the National Endowment for the Arts by about 3.9 percent to $161.3-million.

Housing. Mr. Obama asked that the Department of Housing and Urban Development receive nearly $48-billion next year, a hike of more than 18 percent.

The Community Block Grants program would receive $550-million in new money, for a total of nearly $4.5-billion. Programs to help the homeless would receive nearly $1.8-billion, an increase of $117-million.

International aid. The 2010 budget proposal requests roughly $2.73-billion for “development assistance” provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development, compared with $2-billion this year.

The budget also calls for increases for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a government program that seeks to reduce poverty abroad, and for aid after natural disasters.

Public broadcasting. Mr. Obama would provide the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with $502-million, a small increase over the previous year.

Included in the total is a $440-million, two-year advance appropriation for the 2012 fiscal year, a $10-million increase from the amount the organization will now receive for 2011 programs. Public broadcasting gets money in advance in part because its programs take a long time to plan.

Social services. Several programs to provide services to children and families would receive the same amount as they did in the 2009 fiscal year. Child-welfare services, for example, would receive $242-million, the same amount set aside for such services in 2009. The budget also provides $10-million to help nonprofit groups develop plans to expand a comprehensive poverty-fighting approach that was pioneered by the Harlem Children’s Zone, a New York charity.

Volunteerism. Federal programs designed to increase the time that Americans give to charities fared well under the Obama budget plan.

The Corporation for National and Community Service would get close to $1.15-billion, which is 29 percent more than is now being spent and about $200-million more than President Obama had proposed earlier this year. The increase reflects a spending boost authorized by the new Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

No money was proposed for a new Nonprofit Capacity Building Program that was created in the Serve America Act to help small charities get training and management help.

A newly created Social Innovation Fund would get $50-million.

The Volunteer Generation Fund, which makes grants to help states and nonprofit groups recruit volunteers and manage volunteer programs efficiently, would get $10-million. More details about the budget are available online.