Donnelle Eller

deller@dmreg.com

President Donald Trump's proposed budget chops more than $100 million from programs that help poor Iowans get heat in the winter, help Des Moines and other cities to rebuild struggling neighborhoods, and provide loans to rural towns to improve their drinking water.

Experts say the budget particularly hurts rural Iowans and the poor.

"If you're in a rural area — and were likely a Trump supporter — you may have some questions about why this is the budget we got," said Johnathan Hladik, policy program director for the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb. "It's a wake-up call."

Trump's biggest spending cuts: environmental spending, slashed $2.6 billion — or 31 percent; agriculture, by $4.7 billion — or nearly 21 percent; foreign aid, by $10.9 billion — or 29 percent; commerce, by $1.5 billion — or 16 percent; and education, by $9.2 billion — or 13.5 percent.

The cuts help shift $52.3 billion to defense spending — a 10 percent increase.

U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both Iowa Republicans, applauded Trump's efforts to cut spending but said they plan to look closely at reductions that could hurt Iowa.

Even though Trump's budget doesn't cut meat and other food inspections, Ernst said she's "troubled by how dramatic" the president's cuts are to agricultural programs "that our rural communities rely on."

Grassley said the president's recommendations aren't "specific enough to know exactly how Iowans would be affected" but added that all presidential budgets are substantially revised.

"Congress has the power of the purse strings," he said.

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, an Iowa Democrat, said the president is attacking initiatives that have a "proven record of creating jobs and growing the economy."

"It is clear that there is fat that needs to be trimmed from the budget, but slashing everything from job creation programs to services for rural communities isn’t the way to go about it," he said.

Among the billions in proposed cuts, Hladik said he's particularly concerned about $500 million in cuts to a rural program that helps towns with fewer than 5,000 people get loans to upgrade water, wastewater treatment, and stormwater systems.

A state report shows nearly $52 million in loans were provided to Iowa last year.

"These communities don't have a big tax base, but they do have old infrastructure that's stressed and deteriorating," Hladik said.

"Many don't have any other options except for these USDA programs. These are improvements towns need just to survive."

Trump said the communities should be helped with broader state water revolving loan programs that officials feared also were on the chopping block. Trump proposes a less than 1 percent increase in state revolving water loan funding.

Bob Young, chief economist with the American Farm Bureau, said the national group has concerns about cuts to county-level farm services, data collection operations and the rural development programs.

"Water quality treatment in small towns takes a lot of capital, and it's a good way for services to be provided," he said.

Despite the large cuts to agriculture, the national farm group is mostly focused on the next Farm Bill, which outlines support for big crop protection programs. That work is just getting started.

The national group also will assess proposed cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Young said, noting that those programs help farmers with important water quality initiatives.

"We have a love-hate relationship with EPA … and, lately, it's been more hate than love," Young said.

Even bigger EPA cuts than anticipated would reduce grants to states by 44.5 percent and Superfund spending by 30 percent, according to the Environmental Council of the States, a group representing state environmental agencies.

Iowa expects about $20 million in federal EPA grants this fiscal year. The money helps the state's work to monitor air pollution from factories, test for harmful bacteria and microcystins that cause toxic algae in public lakes and restoring impaired streams, among other work.

"A cut of nearly 45 percent — while state legislatures are in session — is, frankly, unworkable," said John Linc Stine, the group's president and Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

At the same time, some of the biggest federal cuts will hurt Iowa's efforts to help some of its poorest residents.

Trump plans to save $4.2 billion eliminating energy assistance to low-income Americans and another $3 billion zeroing out grants that help cities and small towns redevelop struggling neighborhoods.

Iowa received nearly $22 million this year — money the state divvied up among competing towns for housing, infrastructure and other projects.

Cities with 50,000 or more people get direct assistance. Des Moines, for example, received nearly $6 million last year to help revitalize struggling neighborhoods — money that was used to support Habitat for Humanity's effort to build new homes and tear down abandoned homes that were often inhabited by criminals, reduced area property values and drained neighborhood pride, said Phil Delafied, Des Moines community development director.

"We're trying to stabilize deteriorating neighborhoods," he said. "We believe there’s a correlation between deteriorating neighborhoods and crime."

Iowa also received nearly $48 million this fiscal year to help an estimated 80,000 families pay their heating and cooling bills, said Bill Brand, administrator for Iowa's Community Action Agency division.

The number of Iowans who struggle to pay their heating bills has climbed to record highs in recent years. In December, 363,000 families had late utility bills, owing utility companies more than $66 million.

"There's a growing inability to afford energy" than even the energy assistance program can adequately address, Brand said.

Those Iowans are among the state's most vulnerable, he said, earning less than $12,000 a year. "They tend to be very low income, often have an elderly or disabled member, or children under the age of 6," he said.

The program must be applied for annually and awards an average of $450 in one-time heating assistance for the winter months that keeps families from turning to propane heaters or other alternative sources that can turn deadly.

"They're faced with choosing basic necessities like heat or food, medicine and rent," Brand said.