March 2, 2009

CHICAGO – Senior staff of the Washington Office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) noted that U.S. President Barack Obama's 2010 federal budget outline affirms many ELCA domestic and international priorities. Staff also expressed concern about other items in the proposal.

The Obama administration unveiled first details of its $3.6 trillion budget request Feb. 26. More information is expected when the budget request is released in April.

Lutheran priorities and Christian values such as domestic and international anti-poverty work, care for the earth, peacemaking, development and human rights are reflected in the budget outline, said Andrew Genszler, director, ELCA Washington Office. A unit of ELCA Church in Society, the Washington Office staff manages the church's advocacy efforts at the federal level.

Genszler said the budget outline has many positives, including projecting the budget out 10 years instead of five. He also noted attempts at "transparency and honesty," such as including the full cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We look forward to working with the administration on priorities important to the ELCA, and to our nation and the world," Genszler said.

On domestic issues the budget blueprint shows a commitment to key domestic priorities, notably health care and education, said Robert Francis, director for domestic policy issues. The increase in funding for domestic programs overall signals a concern for the needs of people with low incomes and others who are financially vulnerable during the current economic distress, he said.

The budget blueprint makes health care a top priority by creating a $634 billion reserve fund for health care system reform, and it adds $1 billion to capitalize the National Housing Trust Fund, part of an effort to provide affordable housing and prevent homelessness, Francis said. He commended the Obama administration for including increased funding for several key nutrition programs – such as child nutrition programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. But Francis expressed concern the proposed investments "will not accommodate the anticipated increased demand for these services" or the administration's goal of ending child hunger by 2015.

Kim Stietz, director for international policy issues, noted that the administration's blueprint requests $51.7 billion for the International Affairs Account for 2010. Compared to anticipated expenditures for 2009, the request is an increase of $4.5 billion.

Steitz applauded the president's stated commitment in the budget outline to double U.S. foreign assistance, but said the request "is not large enough to realistically achieve that goal by the end of Obama's first term as candidate Obama committed to during the campaign."

The Obama Administration and the Congress must ensure that poverty-focused programs in the international affairs account receive significant increases through the ongoing budget and appropriations process, Stietz said. These programs include the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Malaria Initiative, debt relief, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, development and humanitarian programs, and peacekeeping operations, she said.

On environmental matters, the budget outline places much- needed resources into development of clean, renewable energy technologies that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the threat of global warming, said Mary Minette, director for environmental education and advocacy. Including revenues from projected cap and trade legislation to address climate change signals that "swift action" on the issue is a priority for the president, Minette said.

"We applaud President Obama and his administration for taking these first and long overdue steps," she said. Minette urged the administration to work with Congress to meet the needs of people living in poverty in the United States and around the world through climate change legislation.

Information about the ELCA and its advocacy work is at http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/, on the ELCA Web site.

ELCA News Service