Issue Brief: The Federal FY 2012 BudgetUpdated January 2012
The President signed the first fiscal year 2012 spending package in November, 2011. This “minibus” measure (Public
Law # 112-55) included three of the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the departments of Agriculture, Justice,
Commerce, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and provided $128 billion in discretionary spending.
One month later, on December 23, 2011, the President signed a $915 billion “megabus” spending package (Public Law #
112-74), which provided funding for the nine appropriations bills that were not funded as part of the early minibus
package. The departments or areas funded by megabus included: Defense, Energy-Water, Financial Services, Homeland
Security, Interior-Environment, Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education, Legislative Branch, Military-
Veterans, and State-Foreign Operations.
State and Local Government Priority Programs
Criminal Justice – Key criminal justice programs all experienced reduced funding for FY 2012. In particular, the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance program (JAG grants) received $370 million ($60 million < FY11) and the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program received $199 million, down from $495 million in FY11, a cut of nearly 60%.
Education - Title I grants for school districts with a high percentage of low-income students were funded at $14.5 billion, $53 million above the FY 2011 levels. However, the president’s Race to the Top competitive grant program was cut by more than 20% from FY11, to $550 million.
Environment - The Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which is used to provide low-interest loans to communities for water-treatment facilities, was funded at $1.5 billion ($55 million less than in FY11). The Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which provides below market rate loans for public water system improvements, was funded at $963 million ($45 million less than in FY11).
Health and Human Services – The Low Income Home Energy Program (LIHEAP), which helps low income families pay their heating bill, was cut by $1.2 billion from fiscal year 2011, to $3.5 billion.
Homeland Security – The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) grant programs for state and local police, fire and other first responders, including the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative, took a significant hit in FY12, with program funding at $1.3 billion, $838 million less than in FY11. Housing and Community Development - Funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which funds community development activities such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, and infrastructure development, was cut by nearly $400 million from $3.3 billion in FY11 to $2.9 billion in FY12. The HOME program, which provides grants to states and localities for activities related to building, buying, and rehabilitating affordable housing, was also subject to a reduction in funding, from $1.6 billion in FY11 to $1.0 billion in FY12, a $600 million cut.
Transportation - The spending measure provides approximately $39 billion for highway funding in FY12, down from $41 billion in FY11. Funding for the Airport Improvement Program fell from $3.5 billion in FY11 to $3.3 billion in FY12. On a positive note, transit funding increased in FY12 to about $10.3 billion, and funding for the popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program remained steady in FY12 at $500 million.
Resources
GFOA • Federal Liaison Center • (202) 393-8020 • (202) 393-0780 FAX • Email |
