{"id":24320,"date":"2019-05-17T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=24320"},"modified":"2019-05-17T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T15:26:00","slug":"op-ed-trump-budget-cuts-will-be-devastating-to-chester-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=24320","title":{"rendered":"Op\/Ed: Trump budget cuts will be devastating to Chester County"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kathi Cozzone<\/strong>, Chester County Commissioner<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again.\u00a0 The numbers and the analyses are out and President Trump\u2019s FY 2020 budget contains brutal cuts even more drastic than his 2018 budget. \u00a0This budget targets key federal programs that are vital to Pennsylvania counties which provide necessary human services, emergency services and community development programs. <\/p>\n

Of significant concern here in Chester County are the proposed changes to Medicaid.\u00a0 A $16.9 million loss could result if Medicaid Expansion is repealed, potentially affecting 26 percent of our claims for Medical Assistance through Pennsylvania\u2019s HealthChoices program.\u00a0 This would be devastating for our less fortunate neighbors who need the services provided by Chester County\u2019s Mental Health, Drug & Alcohol and Children, Youth & Families departments.\u00a0 Direct cuts to Medicaid would also negatively impact Emergency Medical Service (EMS) organizations by reducing payments for emergency services.\u00a0 If your local ambulance organization, for instance, is not reimbursed for the services they provide, they may go out of business, leaving some of the population without coverage.<\/p>\n

Our very security is at stake.\u00a0\u00a0 Trump\u2019s budget cuts an overall $691 million from federal emergency preparedness grants. Chester County\u2019s Department of Emergency Services receives over $1 million in emergency preparedness grant funding per year.\u00a0 Losing that funding will have a huge impact on our ability to support public safety initiatives and planning, training and equipment for Chester County first responders.<\/p>\n

The elimination of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and the HOME Investment Partnership program will have a dramatic impact on affordable housing, homelessness and infrastructure investment.\u00a0 Funding overall for Community Development would decrease by 40 percent, and possibly more. Twenty non-profit agencies here in Chester County are funded by the CDBG program and we rely on those program funds to administer the County\u2019s Community Revitalization Program.\u00a0 The elimination of these programs would mean no funding for affordable housing projects.\u00a0 In 2018, CDBG allowed us to serve 190 households and 2,101 persons directly.\u00a0 The HOME program served 12 households and 48 affordable housing units were constructed at SteelTown Village in Phoenixville.\u00a0 When a town can make infrastructure improvements, it helps small businesses and creates jobs.\u00a0 In 2018, over 9,700 people in our community benefited from the County\u2019s investment in these projects.\u00a0 The Return on investment is substantial, measured in both economic terms AND in improving people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Even our Veterans would be affected by Trump\u2019s budget cuts, which includes a 90 percent reduction to the Veteran\u2019s Supportive Housing program.\u00a0 That means 347 veterans in Chester County who currently receive housing vouchers could be left out on the street?<\/p>\n

Social programs aren\u2019t the only casualties.\u00a0 The Trump budget includes significant cuts to Small Business Association programs and increases in loan fees.\u00a0 Small businesses are a key contributor to Chester County\u2019s economic success and the impact will be felt not just by the businesses themselves but by all of the organizations that work to support the growth of Small Businesses.<\/p>\n

These are just a few examples of the negative impact that Trump\u2019s budget will have on our communities.\u00a0 The primary goal of the FY 2020 Trump budget is to shift responsibility for many programs that traditionally have been funded by federal grants down to state and local governments.\u00a0 Very preliminary estimates are a loss of funding to Chester County in excess of $20M and we would face hard choices between cutting services and raising taxes and would likely have to do both.\u00a0 The full price would be paid by our most vulnerable citizens looking to feed their families, put a roof over their heads or get through a family crisis. Investment in our greatest resource, our people, is what leads to prosperity for all.<\/p>\n

We must send a clear message to our leaders in Washington to reject the unjust and misguided priorities of the Trump budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kathi Cozzone, Chester County Commissioner It\u2019s d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again.\u00a0 The numbers and the analyses are out and President Trump\u2019s FY 2020 budget contains brutal cuts even more drastic than his 2018 budget. \u00a0This budget targets key federal programs that are vital to Pennsylvania counties which provide necessary human services, emergency services and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6383,20,4515,3912,2800,263],"class_list":["post-24320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-budget-cuts","tag-chester-county","tag-donald-trump","tag-featured","tag-government","tag-kathi-cozzone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24321,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24320\/revisions\/24321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}