President’s FY 2008 Budget Released March 8, 2007
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , trackbackThe President released his FY 2008 budget request on February 5, 2007. Aid to state and local governments is cut significantly from current-year spending levels in his request to Congress. Funding for U.S. Justice Department programs take the biggest hit, with the President’s budget proposing an overall cut of nearly 79 percent, according to the National Journal.
Justice funding is reconfigured in the budget request, consolidating many individual programs into three large competitive grant programs: the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative, the Byrne Public Safety Protection Program, and a new juvenile grant program called the Child Safety Juvenile Justice Program. In this consolidation, funding for individual programs was eliminated, including the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), and the Weed and Seed Program. The COPS program would be cut by 94 percent.
Overall, the budget includes $64.6 million for the President’s re-entry initiatives. The Department of Labor’s budget includes $39.6 million for prisoner re-entry by combining the Prisoner Re-Entry and the Responsible Reintegration of Youthful Offenders programs into a single program that would “provide mentoring and job training to promote the successful return of adult and juvenile ex-offenders into mainstream society.” The Housing and Urban Development budget also includes $25 million for Reintegration of Ex-Offenders to be used in collaboration with the Departments of Justice and Labor initiatives. In addition, the new Byrne Public Safety program identifies seven priorities for funding, including “improving and expanding prisoner re-entry initiatives.”
Below is a breakdown of the President’s proposal for criminal justice programs. Additional agency breakdowns and program budgets will be provided as they become available.
Justice Funding Chart (in millions)
| Program | FY06 actual | FY07 est.< td> | FY08 | Increase/ Decrease |
| Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Program |
$5 | $4* | $0 | -$5 |
| Offender State and Local Reentry Deomstration Projects |
$5 | $0 | $0 | — |
| Byrne Justice Assistance Grants | $513 | $375 | $0 | -$375 |
| Byrne Discretionary Grants | $212 | $195 | $0 | -$195 |
| DNA Backlogs | $109 | $234 | $0 | -$234 |
| COPS | $478.3 | $428 | $32 | -$396 |
| Drug Courts | $8 | $9 | $0 | -$9 |
| Weed and Seed | $49.5 | $55 | $0 | -$55 |
| RSAT | $10 | $8 | $0 | -$8 |
| SCAAP | $295 | $661 | $0 | -$661 |
| Prisoner Reentry Initiative (DOJ, DOL, HUD) | $25 | $30 | $64.6 | +$24.6 |
| Prison Rape Prevention and Monitoring | $25 | $51 | $0 | +$51 |
| Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative | — | — | $200 | +$200 |
| Byrne Public Safety and Protection Program | — | — | $350 | +$350 |
*While the President’s Budget estimates $4 million for the program for FY 2007, both House and Senate Appropriations bills for this fiscal year include $5 million of program funding for the project.
For more information on the President’s FY2008 budget release, please contact Jessica Nickel.
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