7 Ways President Trump's Budget Hurts NJ, Lawmakers Say

NEW JERSEY – It sounds like a lot of money, but President Trump's $4.8 trillion budget severely cuts – and even eliminates – programs that impact millions of New Jersey residents, lawmakers say.

Indeed, they've identified at least seven ways that the plan could hurt your commute, your healthcare and other vital needs for the Garden State (see below).

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Passaic, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, offered harsh words in response to the Trump administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2021, saying the president "lied about protecting Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid," all programs that benefit millions of New Jerseyans.

"This vicious budget will disembowel each program, unleashing unimaginable pain and hardship on the tens of millions of Americans whose very lives depend on them,” said Pascrell.

“Republicans jammed into law a $2.3 trillion tax scam that went almost entirely to big business and corporate fat cats. This monstrosity is about forcing the middle-class to pick up the tab."

The White House has argued that the budget proposal puts America in position to "maintain its global leadership in science and technology for generations to come," investing $142.2 billion in federal research and development, a 6 percent increase over his FY 2020 budget.

The budget also includes investments in education and job training that will help create "a diverse and highly skilled American workforce to support the industries of the future," the White House said.

Here's how lawmakers and other policy makers believe Trump's budget plan hurts New Jersey:

Medicare and Medicaid

The proposal continues the Trump Administration’s efforts to "undermine" the Affordable Care Act, cutting $100 billion in funding that would "raise health care costs for working families and gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions" in New Jersey and elsewhere, according to Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Monmouth, Middlesex.

Cuts in Medicaid and the healthcare marketplace would result in billions of dollars lost for New Jersey and "reverse the major progress that has been made in expanding health coverage across the state," said Raymond Castro, health policy director of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a Trenton-based think tank.

"The proposed cuts to Medicaid expansion endanger the healthcare of 500,0000 New Jerseyans currently in Medicaid," he said. "The healthcare of an additional 300,000 New Jerseyans is also at risk from a sharp reduction in marketplace premium assistance."

Amtrak, NJ Transit and airports

At a time when train service has drawn heavy criticism in New Jersey, Northeast Corridor funding would be slashed by more than half, according to NJ Advance Media. Trump also wants to stop all funding for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program that is supposed to benefit Newark, Teterboro and Atlantic City.

CDC and coronavirus

The Trump Administration is proposing nearly $4 billion in funding cuts for the National Institutes for Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are tasked with responding to the coronavirus epidemic, Pallone said.

No one in New Jersey has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, but the CDC was recently involved in the testing of 27 passengers who showed symptoms of the disease when their ship arrived in Bayonne last week. Read more: Crewman Dies On NJ Ship Where 27 Tested For Coronavirus (UPDATE)

FDA and vaping

The budget also proposes "stripping away" the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of tobacco products during an "unprecedented surge in youth smoking and vaping, in favor of a new, untested agency that would take years to get off the ground," Pallone said.

"I fear this would create yet another loophole in the Trump Administration’s response to the youth tobacco epidemic that would be exploited by Big Tobacco to get more young people hooked on their products," he said.

At least one person has died, and many others have gotten sick because of vaping in New Jersey, health officials say. Read more: Startling Details, Cases Skyrocket In Deadly NJ Vaping Outbreak

Environment and drinking water

The president’s could impact the state's Superfund sites and issues with drinking water, cutting the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by 27 percent, Pallone said.

“The budget proposal completely eliminates both the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards program and the Chemical Safety Board, outrageous proposals that would expose Americans to severely heightened risk of chemical contamination and attack.

"It also slashes Superfund funding by $113 million – an astoundingly reckless suggestion for an EPA with the greatest backlog of cleanup sites in recent history," he said.

Extending the 2017 tax cuts by at least 10 years

The budget includes a plan to extend the tax overhaul that Republicans passed in 2017. The reductions in the individual rate are set to expire in 2025, according to CNBC, but the White House is proposing to continue those cuts through 2035 at a cost of $1.4 trillion.

New Jersey was among a group of states hurt by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, according to a report from Fitch Ratings, a financial advisory publication. Read more: Report Says Trump Tax Cut Hurt NJ: Here's How

Making the tax cuts permanent, as a result, is "another massive redistribution of wealth from low-income and working class families to the top 1 percent," Castro said.

Cutting block grants

The budget would also fully eliminate the social services block grant, Community Services Block Grant and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, resulting in a total loss of federal funds of $1.3 billion over five years, Castro said.

In addition, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund, which has not received an increase at the federal level in 20 years, would be cut by over $200 million in New Jersey over five years, "further impoverishing these families that live well below the poverty level," he said.

"Simply put, these cuts would be catastrophic for New Jersey and would directly harm our families, friends, and neighbors in every corner of the state,” Castro said.