April 13, 2011 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The 2011 federal budget deal lawmakers will vote on tomorrow and Friday includes cuts to numerous programs that pay for nonprofits to do work overseas.
The budget deal would cut $379-million from the Economic Support Fund, which would receive $6.2-billion, according to the House Appropriations Committee. (The House and Senate appropriations committees’ figures for the plan differ slightly.) The fund makes grants to nonprofits and other entities that help countries make the transition to democracy.
The plan also includes a $35-million reduction to educational and cultural exchange programs, which would receive approximately $625-million, and a $14-million cut to the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, which would get about $1.4-billion for efforts to fight the disease.
Other cuts that would affect nonprofits include a $205-million reduction to the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which would receive $900-million, and a $25-million slice from the Peace Corps’s budget, which would get $395-million.
While the cuts aren’t as severe as those that Congressional Republicans initially proposed, the 2011 budget will still take away from people who need aid, said Ken Forsberg, a senior manager at InterAction, a Washington group that represents international-aid organizations.
“The administration and Senate demonstrated that they stood up for poverty assistance in the foreign-relations accounts well above [the Republican proposal], and that’s great,” Mr. Forsberg said. “But then if look at the real world, where people are out there hurting and in need, we’re still backtracking relative to 2010.”
International aid groups are putting most of their energy into getting ready for expected battles over the proposed 2012 budget. Mr. Forsberg said that his group is already working to persuade lawmakers to restore money to international groups.
Jeff Grieco, chief of government affairs and communications at International Relief and Development, said he is also focused on 2012.
“The cuts that were enumerated in the 2011 budget represent austerity measures that need to be taken by the president and Congress at this time,” Mr. Grieco said. “However, our hope in the foreign-assistance community is that the 2012 budget process will not look at 2011 as a starting point.”
