Federal Budget Deal Largely Preserves Spending on Nonprofit Priorities

Federal spending on nonprofit-administered programs benefiting low-income families, veterans, the homeless, and community development will remain mostly intact, at least through September, under a new spending bill President Trump pledged to sign this week.

The legislation also spares the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, all of which were slated for elimination under a preliminary budget proposal put forth by the Trump administration in March.

The new bill does not include money for the Social Innovation Fund, meaning that Obama-era initiative is likely done for. Proponents of the effort, which attempted to identify and pay for nonprofit social programs that achieved data-demonstrated results, had hoped Republican leaders would protect it.

The House Appropriations Committee’s $1.07 trillion budget plan was made public Monday. It came just days after Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown, voting Friday on a one-week extension of federal funding to give members time to work out a longer-term deal.

The omnibus appropriations bill released Monday would keep the government operating through September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. A House vote could take place as early as Wednesday.

Head Start

“We’re very happy with it,” President Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday. Previously, the White House said it would insist the bill include money to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, in line with candidate Trump’s campaign promise. The measure does include an additional $1.5 billion for border security, but not for the building of a wall. It also includes $15 billion in additional defense spending.

The budget deal is likely to face opposition from conservative Republicans, who want to slash spending and reduce the national deficit, currently at about $350 billion.

Some human-services programs benefiting poor and low-income families, including Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant, would get small increases in support under the Appropriations Committee bill. The measure also increases spending on substance-abuse and mental-health care, and on some programs providing job training and housing for veterans.

Community Development Block Grants are to get $3 billion, matching fiscal 2016 spending for the program. Grant allocations for assisting the homeless are to be increased by $133 million to $2.4 billion. The bill includes $1 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that houses AmeriCorps and other national-service programs, a $65 million drop from 2016-enacted levels. The National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities will each get $150 million, up from the current $148 million.

Nonprofit leaders across the country say they are watching deal making in Congress — with regard to both spending and a possible remake of tax law — more closely and in greater detail than they have for years. They have a lot at stake, with roughly one-third of all nonprofit revenue coming from government grants and fees for services, including Medicare and Medicaid payments, according to the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics.

“I’m grateful that Congress prioritized children in the spending bill, making significant investments in programs that reach kids living in poverty during the most critical stages of their development,” Mark Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network, said in a statement Monday. “While this is a step forward, it is imperative that Congress at least maintain these levels of funding when they take up the fiscal year 2018 budget in the weeks and months ahead.”