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By Charlie Bartsch |
If President Bush’s February 7 budget submission to Congress is any indicator, 2005 promises to be quite a roller coaster ride for federal programs aimed at economic and community development, with brownfield efforts just one car on the train. Bush is seeking the most sweeping reorganization of federal economic and community development programs in more than three decades, along with substantial cuts in program funding.
In his budget, President Bush has proposed a major change in the way federal economic development programs are structured and delivered. This proposal — the “Strengthening America’s Communities” initiative — would consolidate 18 existing programs from across five cabinet departments into a single program to be administered by the Department of Commerce.
Most of these programs have served as strong partners in public-private financing efforts for brownfield projects in communities all across the country. This initiative would also set new uniform eligibility criteria and establish strong accountability standards — both of which could complicate their use in a brownfield context.
The 18 programs’ total fiscal 2005 funding of $5.665 billion would be consolidated into a single program funded at $3.71 billion in fiscal 2006, some 34.5 percent less than existing funding levels. As the administration has articulated it, the new initiative would have four goals: