Sunset Commission Threatens Budget Programs

President Bush is determined to leave his mark on the federal budget process and outcomes, and not just through disastrous tax cuts, billions of dollars for the war in Iraq, and huge deficits. In a move that has received little attention from the media, he has proposed a way to bypass elected representatives and subject a wide range of federal programs to possible elimination. In a letter to Congress on April 5, members of nonprofit groups such as the AFL-CIO, Environmental Defense, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Sierra Club, YWCA USA, and Public Citizen reported that “the proposals could create a single unelected commission to review every federal program, and would mandate that all federal programs automatically "sunset"--completely cease--after a fixed period, unless Congress intervened.”

Under these proposals first revealed in Bush’s budget releases in February, essentially all government programs from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) could be subject to termination. According to the groups signing the letter, this may force key battles won in the past over civil rights and human services to be fought again and again every 10 years. The unelected sunset commission could also potentially operate in secret and would have the power to ram proposals through Congress on a fast-track, take-it-or-leave-it basis. This is a serious threat to constitutional separation of powers.

A vote on the Sunset Commission will probably take place in June. To let your elected representatives know what you think of unelected sunset commissions, go to the OMB Watch web site:

www.democracyinaction.org /dia/organizations/ombwatch/campaign.jsp? campaign_KEY=3855&t=

Meanwhile, Congress is working on the FY 2007 budget. To see a letter from 1,200 organizations that was sent to the Senate in protest of human services cuts, go to the Coalition on Human Needs:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/ GetRelease.asp?id=62324

The repeal of the estate tax is also on the congressional agenda. For information on that and a nationwide effort at the local level to stop tax breaks for millionaires got to Fair Taxes for All:

www.faireconomy.org/resolution