As White House Presents Budget, Jewish Groups Focus on Vouchers

The Bush administration may be consumed with international affairs, but Jewish groups examining the White House’s proposed budget are more concerned with the president’s domestic priorities.

Spending is higher in the White House budget for fiscal year 2004 released Monday, but most of that money is going to defense and homeland security.

Many of the Jewish community’s domestic priorities either have not increased or have been trimmed.

In addition, the budget includes $75 million for the Choice Incentive Fund, which would push states to create school voucher programs and would create a test program in Washington. Many Jewish organizations oppose vouchers, which provide government funds that students can use to attend parochial or private schools.

Also included in the $2.23 trillion budget for fiscal year 2004 are:

$480 million in economic aid for Israel and $2.16 billion in military aid. Economic aid to Israel is being cut by $120 million each year and should be phased out entirely by 2009, while military aid is rising by $60 million a year.

$575 million in economic aid and $1.3 billion in military aid for Egypt, as well as $250 million in economic aid and $206 million in military aid for Jordan.

$75 million for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which would be doled out through the United States Agency for International Development. The United States will continue to support the U.N. Refugee and Works Administration, which assists Palestinian refugees.

$50 million for the United Israel Appeal, which is used primarily to resettle Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. The figure represents a cut of $10 million.

In any case, the House of Representatives and the Senate will have to pass their own plans, which will need to be reconciled with Bush’s proposal. That means that the final spending numbers are far from certain — and that it could be months before a final budget is approved.

In fact, the budget for fiscal year 2003, which included an additional $200 million in aid for Israel and $50 million for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, has yet to clear Congress. That has left government agencies running on prorated portions of their 2002 budgets.

The voucher provisions of the 2004 budget are expected to be among the more controversial portions for Jewish groups, who have been concerned about federal money going to religious schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that vouchers don’t violate the constitutional separation of church and state. But many Jewish groups continue to oppose them on policy grounds, arguing that vouchers divert attention and funds from the public schools.

“Our arguments against vouchers remain,” said Michael Lieberman, Washington counsel for the Anti-Defamation League. “It’s still bad public policy, and it’s bad for religion.”

Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said the Washington pilot voucher program “is part of a larger federal decision to abdicate its federal responsibilities” by aiding private schools rather than fixing public ones.

In addition to the program in Washington, the Education Department budget includes $226 million in tax credits for parents transferring their children out of failing public schools — which Jewish groups say essentially is a voucher — and $220 million in grants for charter schools, a $20 million increase from last year’s budget proposal.

Many Jewish groups reject the civil rights argument. The Orthodox community, however, remains a staunch supporter of vouchers.

“We think that parental choice in education is a good thing for society at large and the Jewish community,” said Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president for government and public affairs at Agudath Israel of America, a fervently Orthodox group.

In Milwaukee, where a pilot program has begun, Jewish students who otherwise couldn’t afford it have used vouchers to pay for yeshiva.

This year’s budget also would cut $200 million in social service block grants — which are given to states to distribute at their discretion, according to local needs — and would cut $496 million from welfare programs.

Diana Aviv, vice president for public policy at United Jewish Communities, said she is concerned about plans to change low-income housing from a federal spending item to a block grant for states to distribute, possibly hurting Jews who depend on such housing.

“There’s always a concern that states won’t want to keep it where it is and there will be less of a commitment on the federal government’s part,” Aviv said.

Aviv said she was anticipating a “massive conversation, if not changes” in the next year about the future of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which account for more than 18 percent of the total budget. As lawmakers push for a prescription drug plan, the discussions will focus on controlling the programs’ costs.

In foreign aid, the administration has requested a $1.3 billion increase for Millennium Challenge Accounts, an initiative the president unveiled last year.

The challenge accounts, which would supplement existing aid programs, aim to reward countries that are making progress in protecting political and human rights, improving citizens’ quality of life — and using aid money efficiently.

“It’s trying to find a way to be the most effective with the money,” said Liz Schrayer, campaign manager of the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, which includes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “People recognize that there aren’t enough funds to do the work that is required in a post-Sept. 11 world.”

No Middle Eastern country is expected to qualify for the aid immediately, but Jewish leaders say the initiative may make it easier for the total foreign aid bill — which includes money for Israel — to pass Congress each year.

By diversifying foreign aid recipients and giving additional money to countries that can show they are using it effectively, Israel’s aid package won’t have to be defended as vigorously, some supporters of Israel say.

“Increased foreign aid supports the idea that you don’t have to make a choice between supporting Israel and supporting Africa,” one Jewish leader said.

Republicans traditionally have been much harsher critics of foreign aid than have Democrats, dismissing it as international welfare. Because the foreign aid increase is being proposed by a Republican White House, it is considered to have a better chance of becoming law.

But any increase in overseas spending could face resistance this year, with a $307 billion budget deficit and the cost of a possible war with Iraq looming.

Also included in the foreign aid spending is $145 million for the Middle East Partnership Initiative, which aims to foster democracy and the rule of law in Arab and Muslim countries. The program was introduced by Secretary of State Colin Powell last December.

Democrats argue that neither the Middle East Partnership Initiative nor the challenge grants have enough funding to accomplish its goals.

The budget request doesn’t include funds for a possible war against Iraq, which would be covered by a supplemental request, if necessary.

Also left out of the budget is additional aid beyond Israel’s normal package. Israel has been seeking up to $8 billion in loan guarantees and $4 billion in additional military aid because of the terrorist threat from the Palestinian intifada and Israel’s severe economic recession.

Negotiations over the package continue between Jerusalem and the White House, and a request to Congress isn’t expected to come until after any attack on Iraq.