President’s 2009 Budget Request Is In!

President Bush sent his budget request for fiscal year 2009 to Congress today and ONE’s Policy Director Erin Thornton has already written an excellent summary of the numbers.

I’m reading through it now, so please be patient with me as I try to give a basic overview…

The 2009 international affairs portion of the request is one of the largest increases from the 2008 budget.

Critically, of the $39.5 billion in the president’s 2009 international affairs budget request, only some portions directly impact the lives of poor people. If this budget is passed as is, the international affairs budget would increase by $3.1 billion, while the poverty-development assistance portion of that budget would increase by $1.4 billion.

Keep in mind that we’re talking about a net increase here, which means that the president requested increases to some accounts, and cuts to others.

The increases:

• A net $63 million increase for global HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria (within the international affairs budget);
• A $681 million increase for the Millennium Challenge Account;
• $400 million for a new International Clean Technology Fund;
• A $335 million increase for the International Development Association (IDA) at the World Bank;
• A $116 million increase for USAID operating expenses and an $84 million increase for the USAID Capital Investment Fund;
• A $111 million increase for debt cancellation;
• A $284 million increase for the Economic Support Fund; and
• A $15 million increase to the Development Assistance account.

The cuts:

• A $251 million cut to child survival funding, (includes a $77 million cut for child and maternal health, a net $74 million cut for infectious diseases and a $90 million cut for family planning);
• A $131 million cut to international disaster and famine funding;
• A $258 million cut to refugee assistance; and
• A $163 million cut to the Democracy Fund.

If you want to dig deeper into all of this, you can download our current analysis of the president’s budget request here. We’ll update you as new analysis comes in and as the budget moves through approval in Congress.

-Virginia Simmons