Schatz Says President's Budget Promotes Economic Opportunities
President’s 2015 Budget Proposal Builds on 2-Year Compromise Budget Agreement, Invests in Education, Health Care, Infrastructure; Protects Social Security, Medicare
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement today after President Barack Obama submitted his proposed Fiscal Year 2015 budget to Congress:
“President Obama’s budget proposal takes major steps forward to make sure we have an economy that provides opportunities for everyone. It builds on the progress we made in Congress’s two-year Budget Agreement to protect Hawai‘i priorities, Social Security, Medicare and veterans. Budgets are about priorities and choices. The President’s budget proposal ends some tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent and creates a more fair tax system in order to provide more resources for middle-class jobs, clean energy programs, and investments in education programs like universal pre-K. I look forward to working with President Obama as we move our budget process and appropriations forward this year.”
Specific programs in the President’s budget proposal that will benefit Hawai‘i include:
- $250 million for Honolulu Rail;
- $20 million for SelectUSA, which will bring jobs back to the U.S.;
- $13 million for Native Hawaiian Housing Grants;
- $32 million for Native Hawaiian Education grants;
- $10.8 million for the East-West Center;
- $211.98 million for Hawai‘i military construction;
- $68.6 billion for discretionary education;
- $2.3 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office;
- $63 million for State Energy Programs, which helps implement the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative; and
- $2 million for Ala Kahakai Trail on Hawai‘i Island.
President Obama’s 2015 budget follows the spending levels authorized by the Bipartisan Budget Act, which Senator Schatz helped to pass last December.
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