When is $200 billion a major problem? When it begins to crowd out spending on education, advocates say.
Last month, Congress authorized $203 billion in new federal
spending on highways and other transportation projects during the next
decade. President Bill Clinton is expected to sign the legislation,
which calls for new spending of $25 billion in 1999 alone.
Those who negotiated the package want full funding of the new
highway projects — as well as tax cuts — without jeopardizing an
expected budget surplus,
“It doesn’t leave much room for new education spending,” one advocate said.
The transportation hill is one of several recent developments that
signal potential cuts ahead for higher education, barring intensive
lobbying efforts from advocates or the Clinton administration,
advocates say. For some, these recent events surrounding the
social-services-versus-highway-pork debate send a disturbing signal.
To help pay for the transportation bill, Congress cut $8 billion
from a program important to at-risk children, the Social Services Block
Grant. The block grant should enjoy a stronger following on Capitol
Hill because it provides the type of state flexibility Republicans
usually like. In 1995 alone, states spent 15 percent of grant funds on
child development and 18 percent on education, special services, job
training, and protective services for youth.
“It’s one thing to cut the program to spend more on Head Start,” or
similar education priorities, said Wendell Primus, an analyst for the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C.-based group
that works on behalf of the poor. “It’s another to cut the program to
pay for highways.”
