TESTIMONY OF ROBERT GREENSTEIN
Executive Director
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

 Prepared for the
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
House Committee on Appropriations

February 13, 2008

I am Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  The Center is an independent, nonprofit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of federal and state policy issues, with particular emphasis on fiscal policies and policies affecting low- and moderate-income families.  We receive no government grants or contracts and are funded by foundations and individual donors.

My testimony today will focus on three areas: 1) trends in funding for domestic discretionary programs and how this part of the budget is affecting the short-term and long-term budget outlook; 2) the President’s budget proposals with regard to this part of the budget; and 3) how broader national and global forces and the trend toward widening income inequality are likely to affect needs for non-defense discretionary funding in the years ahead.

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