PRESIDENT'S FY 2009 BUDGET RELEASED

On February 4, 2008, President Bush unveiled his fiscal year 2009 budget proposal.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

The $3.1 trillion measure calls for $22.7 billion for the Department of Justice, including increased spending for border security and the Department's counterterrorism and intelligence capabilities.

As proposed last year, Justice funding is consolidated into four large competitive grant programs: the Byrne Public Safety and Protection Program the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative, the Violence Against Women Program and a juvenile grant program called the Child Safety and Juvenile Justice Program.   Thus, there is no direct funding for the drug court grant program as well as many other programs.

Below is a breakdown of the President's proposal for criminal justice programs.

Department of Justice  (in millions)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Under the President’s FY 2009 request, programs in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would receive funding cuts of $198 million, with nearly $99 million in cuts proposed to discretionary funding in the Centers for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, and $126 million in proposed cuts to the Center for Mental Health Services.  

Health and human service funding would be cut significantly under the President’s budget, with approximately $1 billion proposed to be cut from both the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Administration on Children and Families (ACF).  Programs receiving discretionary funding in the Department of Health and Human Services would receive $2.2 billion in cuts under the FY 2009 budget.  In addition, the President’s budget includes proposals for nearly $200 billion in cuts to Medicare and approximately $17 billion in cuts to Medicaid.

Under the President’s FY 2009 budget: 

• The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) would receive $337 million, a decrease of $63 million from FY 2008. 

          The FY 2009 funding recommendation for CSAT would include: 

• $99.7 million to support twenty-four Access to Recovery (ATR) grantees and an evaluation of the program, funding level to FY 2008 

• $40 million for drug treatment courts, which would represent a $30 million increase over last year’s funding 

• $56 million for substance use screening and brief interventions in medical and other community settings; the Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program received $29 million in FY 2008 

• Zeroed out funding for the Recovery Community Support Program (RCSP) 

• The Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant would receive $1.779 billion, a $20 million increase over FY 2008 levels.  However, budget documents from the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that this $20 million increase would be used to support “supplemental performance awards” for the top 20 percent of SAPT Block Grant recipients that “demonstrate superior performance in preventing and treatment substance abuse.” 

Below is a breakdown of the President's proposal for drug and alcohol prevention, treatment and research programming.

Department of Health and Human Services  

*      Budget documents indicate that this $20 million increase would be used to support supplemental performance awards for the top 20 percent of SAPT Block Grant recipients that demonstrate superior performance

NEXT STEPS  

The President's budget proposal is just the first step in a long process to pass a final budget. Next the House and Senate will pass a concurrent Budget Resolution. The Budget Resolution will include the total amount available for discretionary spending and a nonbinding statement of Congress's spending priorities. The Budget Resolution will not include funding levels for specific programs.

After the Budget Resolution is passed, each appropriations subcommittee will receive a specific allocation. In each chamber, the subcommittee's responsibility is to allocate its funds among the various programs within its jurisdiction. Finally, after all the subcommittee bills are passed, a final appropriations bill will be considered. The federal fiscal year ends on September 30, although for the past several years, Congress has not passed an appropriations bill by that date.

As we did last year, NADCP will work to restore the funding for the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program.  We will again need the help of every drug court professional if we are to be successful.  In the upcoming weeks NADCP will be sending out action alerts. Please watch out for these critical messages and please get involved to restore the funding.  Our success last year was because of you!  With your help we can do it again this year.

To get involved click here