April 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 28

ADVOCACY

the-board cuts, ranging from 0.1
percent to 2.5 percent for particular departments to avoid a second
round of sequestration set to trigger an additional $7.8 billion in
automatic spending cuts on March
27, had Congress not finalized the
FY 2013 appropriations bills.
Final FY 2013 Funding and
Sequestration Impacts on Parks
and Recreation
The OMB said that because of sequestration, the National Park Service will have $218 million less to
spend in FY 2013 than in FY 2012.
The Land and Water Conservation
Fund (LWCF) State Assistance Program was funded at the final FY 2012
level of approximately $42 million

Trails Program ($85 million) and
other programs critical to walking
and biking infrastructure, such as
" Transportation Alternatives, " will
continue as normal.
However, other programs now
subject to cuts (of between five and
eight percent for this fiscal year) include: Community Development
Block Grants, CDC Community
Transformation Grants, and other
programs that fund the development
of parks, trails, and active transportation networks. The cuts from
sequestration will start to be felt in
local communities in April once
federal agencies have reduced their
staffing and reported their overall
spending plans.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
State Assistance Program was funded at the FY 2012
level of approximately $42 million but will now be
subjected to sequestration.
but will now be subject to sequestration. Exactly how much of a hit
the LWCF State Assistance account
ultimately takes, including how the
mandated cuts are divided between
the grant program and administration, has not yet been reported by the
Park Service. We do know that the
FY 2013 State Assistance grants have
yet to be allocated to the states, so the
overall impact of the cuts will be felt
up front and only once.
The CR maintains spending for
highway programs as authorized
in MAP-21, which utilize monies
from the Highway Trust Fund and
are protected from cuts. Therefore,
programs such as the Recreational

Parks & Recreation

Plans for FY 2014
Just prior to departing for the spring
holiday break, the House and Senate
approved radically different FY 2014
Congressional budgets that will guide
spending for the fiscal year beginning
October 1. For park and recreation
purposes, the most important function of the Congressional budget is to
set an overall domestic spending cap
that appropriators then use to assign
funding ceilings for individual spending bills. They are non-binding and
best viewed as blueprints or guides
that indicate the funding priorities for
the House and Senate.
Unfortunately, the House and
Senate visions for federal spending

| A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

could not be more different. The
Senate plan calls for $975 billion in
new revenue (taxes) and an equal
amount of spending cuts. The plan
also includes $100 billion in shortterm stimulus spending aimed at
jobs and infrastructure.
Of note, the Senate's FY 2014
budget recommends full funding for
LWCF at $900 million per year.
The House-approved budget
blueprint seeks to repeal the 2010
health care law and cuts to Medicare, and it includes no new revenues. Both chambers approved
their budgets by very narrow, primarily party-line votes. The dramatic difference between the two
ensures that there will be no compromise between the House and
Senate. However, the budgets do
provide a clear idea of Congress's
priorities compared to that of the
Administration.
The final part of this trio, the
President, submitted his FY 2014
budget request to Congress on April
10-65 days past the statutory
deadline for the budget submittal.
This year, the Obama administration delayed releasing a fiscal 2014
budget request because it claimed it
was tied up with completing the fiscal 2013 appropriations legislation,
including addressing the impacts of
sequestration.
One major positive that comes
out of the House, Senate, and White
House recommending separate budget plans is that it serves as the starting point on negotiations over a longer-term budget deal. This will likely
be needed in advance of a further extension of the government's overall
debt limit, or ceiling, later this year
and will be required to avoid another
harsh round of automatic spending
cuts in FY 2014.

April 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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