Contact:
Marie Watteau
(202) 785-1670

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2009



NCLR CONCERNED THAT THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET DOES NOT ADEQUATELY INVEST IN THE LATINO COMMUNITY

Washington, DC-NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, expressed deep concern over the President's fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget released by the White House yesterday.

"What we have seen so far with the budget is discouraging and suggests that some of the key priorities of the Latino community are not those of the administration. I am very surprised that the Obama administration in its first budget would mirror similar cuts made by the Bush administration," said Janet MurguĂ*a, NCLR President and CEO.

For example, the budget overwhelmingly maintains funding for Latino health-serving programs at the same levels as in the past administration. And even though the nation's unemployment rate has reached 11.4% for Latinos, many employment programs are also level-funded.

However, the FY 2010 budget does address some of the issues that concern many Latino families, such as worker protections, the housing crisis, health care reform, and immigrant integration. For example, it allocates $10 million toward the establishment of new immigrant integration programs geared toward citizenship, training, and coordination of federal resources for immigrant integration.

"We are encouraged by the U.S. Department of Labor's renewed commitment to protecting workers' rights by funding boosts for enforcement of laws related to wage and hour, occupational health and safety, and equal opportunity, but we are concerned with the level funding for workforce investment systems," said MurguĂ*a.

Furthermore, the budget includes a significant increase for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Housing Counseling Assistance Program, with a funding increase of more than 50%. The President's budget provides $37 million in new funding to combat mortgage fraud, predatory lending, and stepped-up enforcement of home purchase settlement requirements.

"The recent housing crisis has hit Latino families particularly hard, and the budget addresses some of the concerns that NCLR and other low-income community advocates have voiced over specific issues such as mortgage fraud and lack of financial services and housing counseling resources," added MurguĂ*a.

Although education has been identified as a significant policy initiative for this administration, the President's budget does not reflect investment in vital programs for Latino students.

"NCLR is deeply disappointed in the lack of investment in parents, family literacy, and English language learners. We are especially troubled that the Even Start program was eliminated-as it was in the Bush budgets-even though its fate was based on a flawed study," added MurguĂ*a. "It is unfortunate that the administration is unwilling or unable to provide a deeper analysis of the impact of this program on Latino families-who make up roughly half of all Even Start participants."

"We realize this is just a proposal and that Congress has the opportunity to deliver a budget that works for all Americans, and we will continue to work with the administration and Congress to achieve that," concluded MurguĂ*a.

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