Senate appropriations bills passed

In mid-September, the Senate Committee on Appropriations passed several bills pertaining to parks and recreation. S. 2810 is a $2.75 million appropriations bill for rehabilitative services. These "seed funds" will support the development of recreation and related services for individuals with disabilities "to aid their employment, mobility, independence, socialization and community integration." The administration's budget proposed no funds for the program, which aligns with actions from past Congresses of unfunded federal mandates.

In related action, NRPA Public Policy recently collaborated with U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), ranking member of the Labor, HHS and Education subcommittee, and Iowa park and recreation officials to arrange site visits to a recreation program for individuals with disabilities. Harkin attended the

"Buddy Baseball" program in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and witnessed public recreation services in action.

NRPA advocacy priorities for the 109th Congress include a substantially greater commitment to recreation for persons with disabilities.

S.2804 is a $20.2 billion interior and related agencies appropriations bill for FY 2005. The action resulted in a cut of about $256 million from the $20.5 billion provided last year, but is a $35 million increase over the president's proposed funding level.

While several other bills were passed helping to fund programs within the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and the USDA Forestry Service, no funds were allocated for the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) program in either the Senate or House.

The Senate report acknowledging these bills also notes opposition of the appropriations committee to the proposed American Outdoors Act and the similar House version, both of which NRPA supports. Both bills would usurp some of the authority of the appropriations process.

The report outlines committee concerns over losing its authority to fund programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund and UPARR. The report states, "The current budget and appropriations process, imperfect as it is, is designed to ensure that annually there are opportunities for Congress to consider federal spending priorities on both a broad and narrow scale. During consideration of the budget resolution, members have an opportunity to evaluate tradeoffs between taxing and spending, between taxing and borrowing, between defense and nondefense spending, or among the range of non-defense discretionary programs. Members are free to offer amendments that would increase discretionary spending for conservation programs, and choose to pay for such spending with higher taxes, with reductions in spending elsewhere, or by additional borrowing. In the appropriations process, members are able to offer amendments that move funds from one program to another, or amendments that simply increase funding for a particular program without an offsetting reduction elsewhere."

Further Senate action is uncertain. For updates on these aforementioned bills, please contact Barry Tindall or Michael Phillips in NRPA's Public Policy Office at (202) 887-0290.

To learn more about the Rehabilitative Services Recreation grants contact: Mary E. Switzer Building, Room 3322, Washington, DC 20202-2740, (202) 205-8242, or e-mail Diane Hardy at diane.hardy@ed.gov.