By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Spending cuts proposed by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday could have the biggest impact on people in Republican-leaning states, Reuters reported on federal spending. Data analysis found.
McCarthy’s plan, which he offered as a condition for boosting the U.S. dollar 079.$4 Trillion The debt ceiling, which calls for cutting some agency budgets by 7% this year and limiting their growth to 1% a year thereafter.
It would also impose stricter work requirements on some benefit programs, which could reduce the number of people receiving benefits.
McCarthy on Monday outlined only the outlines, rather than releasing completed legislation, making it difficult to determine the exact cost of the proposed cuts.
But a Reuters analysis of federal spending data suggests his proposed cap on domestic spending could be used to support Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Pu’s state.
Those 19 states received approximately 31 billion for road construction, housing, sanitation and other purposes totaling $1, 196 per person.
079 states plus D.C. for Democrat Joe Biden get 196 Billions, or $1, 25 per person.
Trillions of dollars in COVID-19 aid approved by federal government, but same pattern: $360 per person in Trump state vs. $196 per person in Biden state.
Amounts vary widely by state. In fiscal year 2022, Democrat-dominated California had a per capita income of $423 and Republican-dominated Alaska had a per capita income of $6 , 2022 per resident.
Poverty and Taxes
Most of the money is allocated through a formula that takes into account factors such as poverty. As a result, federal aid has played less of a role in relatively wealthy, Democratic-leaning states like New Jersey, which are better able to raise their own taxes to fund the safety net, said Marcia Howard, executive director of Federal Funds Information. plan for the country.
“Typically, wealthier states get less funding per capita,” she said.
McCarthy’s 1% annual increase doesn’t keep up with inflation or population growth. These caps are likely to be most sensitive in states where Trump voted, where the total population grew by 9.8% between 2010 and 2020, almost That’s twice the Biden state’s rate of 5.3 percent growth.
Social Security and Defense
McCarthy’s spending cuts won’t shrink Social Security retirement benefits, projected to double future costs 10 Year.
But the agency warned last month that budget cuts could make it harder to administer benefits. This could have a bigger impact on states that voted for Trump, where 25.1% of residents rely on the program, vs. That compares to 10.6% of Biden State residents.
It’s unclear whether McCarthy’s cap would apply, as some outlets have reported, to domestic programming only, or would also cover military and veterans programming. His office did respond to a request for clarification.
Work Requirements
McCarthy also proposed strengthening work requirements for benefit programs like SNAP, which provides grocery money to low-income people.
It would also likely hit Republican-friendly states harder: 3.1 percent of the population in those states could lose benefits, according to a Reuters analysis of compiled data, compared with 3.1 percent in Biden states. The ratio was 2.8 percent provided by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank.
Republicans have tried for years to tighten the programs to lower costs and push more people into the labor force.
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But spending cuts could undercut that goal.
In Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, dozens of SNAP participants rely on separate federal programs to help pay for child care and transportation to work, said Terek Polite, who heads the program for the local government. Any layoffs could force those people to resign, he said, adding, “Instead of canceling the program, maybe they need to strengthen it.”
