Tennessean
Tuesday, 01/28/03
Middle Tennessee News & Information
Memphis
lawmaker says war could cost state $1.3B in federal
funds
By BONNA de la CRUZ
Staff Writer
A Memphis lawmaker who opposes a pre-emptive strike
against Iraq said funding the war could cost Tennessee's
budget an estimated $1.3 billion in federal funding
for roads, schools and other domestic needs.
State Rep. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis, said yesterday
that she wants Tennessee citizens to know that the state's
serious budget shortfalls will be compounded by a reduction
in federal funds which she believes will be redirected
to war spending.
''We are very concerned about the cuts in the federal
budget to provide money for a war in Iraq and the wrong
message that is being sent to our children,'' Bowers
wrote in an open letter to Gov. Phil Bredesen and members
of the legislature.
Bowers said she wrote the letter as part of her work
as president of a national organization called Women's
Action for New Directions.
''My concern is that because of our state budget crunch,
we will not be able to make up those dollars and we'll
have to cut services even more - and people think we're
cutting state dollars, but it's federal dollars being
cut,'' she said in an interview.
She said the amount of money Tennesseans send in taxes
to the federal government's nuclear weapons program
is $219 million, which alone would buy Head Start for
32,047 Tennessee children; affordable housing units
for 3,123 Tennessee families; and salaries for 5,101
elementary schoolteachers.
Bowers cited federal budget figures and projections
from two reports of the National Priorities Project,
a nonpartisan, nonprofit Massachusetts-based group used
as a resource for citizens and community groups to help
them shape federal budgets and priorities.
The NPP reports, however, did not link the federal funding
loss and cost of war as Bowers did, said Anita Dancs,
the NPP's director of research.
Dancs said in one report that the NPP calculated the
amount taxpayers in every state would pay to fund a
war based on the assumption war would cost $100 billion.
Most of that revenue would come from personal federal
income taxes, Dancs said, while acknowledging the federal
government could pay for war through deficit spending.
In a separate report, the NPP released how much President
Bush proposed to cut in federal funding to certain programs,
which included Tennessee losing $2.4 billion.
That includes cuts in federal funds of $178 million
in highway planning and construction; $22.1 million
in the clean water revolving fund; $6.4 million in the
Workforce Investment Act; $4.6 million in the low-income
energy assistance program; $760,600 in airport improvements;
$678,180 in the drinking water revolving fund; and $19,689
in schools, according to NPP.
State Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said he had not
seen Bowers' letter, nor has he had time to review the
state's federal funding status.
Bowers said one of the reasons she's underscoring the
NPP reports is because she has concerns about a pre-emptive
strike against Iraq.
''I supported the Gulf War because we had physical and
financial support from other countries. And I would
support a strike now if someone strikes us first. But
I'm also concerned we're not getting support from other
countries.''
Read
Rep. Bowers' letter
|
