President Bush's proposed 2005 budget has received mixed reviews from local elected officials.
U.S. Senators from Ohio, Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, both Republicans, support the budget.
There's a lot of good stuff in there for Ohio
DeWine's spokeswoman Amanda Flaig said.
Marcy Ridgeway, spokeswoman for Voinovich, said while the senator is a proponent of the budget, he sees a need for modest appropriations.
(Voinovich) believes that Congress must remember that everything it does this year will be measured against the ever-increasing deficit Ridgeway said. Modest budget proposals must be followed with modest appropriation bills. As the senator has said before (Congress) tends to spend money like a drunken sailor.
But U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lisbon, called the budget shameful
citing cuts to education and veterans services and echoing Voinovich's concern over the nation's deficit.
(The budget is) deceptive
dishonest and continues this administration's practice of taking care of their rich friends and expecting the people to bear the burden of keeping this country running
Strickland said.
Instead of providing the resources that are needed
he said, (Bush) is shifting the burden onto the backs of the veterans. He should be ashamed of himself.
The estimated federal budget deficit for 2004 is $521 billion, up from $375 billion in 2003. The Bush administration has proposed cutting $4.8 billion by eliminating 65 duplicate programs.
Jack Hershey, deputy director of the Ohio department of budget management, said the department has not yet received any information on how much money Ohio stands to receive. One program that can rest easy this fiscal year is the Appalachian Regional Commission. Unlike last year, when its funding faced a 50 percent cut, the commission will again receive approximately $66 million from the federal government.
The Ohio ARC stands to receive around $4 million, said Jennifer Simon, interim director of Ohio's Governor's Office of Appalachia. In fiscal year 2004, the commission received $4.2 million, which it distributed to Ohio's 29 distressed counties.
She said the commission would know exactly how much money it would receive in October.
Simon said that money retained 4,174 jobs and created 1,320 more in Ohio in fiscal year 2002.
We get a good bang out of our buck when it comes to ARC money spent in Ohio
Simon said.
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