A tentative budget compromise reached by congressional negotiators would, if approved by the full Congress and the White House, mean some relief for the National Park Service.
Craig Obey, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the tentative deal as crafted "helps reduce the damage that the broken budgeting process has been inflicting on our national parks."
"...The budget deal opens the door for congressional appropriators to do a better job for America’s national parks, their visitors, and local economies, than has been the case in recent times, though this is not guaranteed," Mr. Obey went on in a prepared statement.
“The budget agreement, though far from perfect, is much better than maintaining the full sequester levels this year and next, and likely will result in reinstating some rangers who were cut due to the sequester."
The compromise to be put before the full House and Senate would do away with $63 billion in pending across-the-board cuts to domestic and military budgets. If approved, the deal also would remove the threat of a government shutdown in mid-January.
Still, Mr. Obey said Congress still needs to restore to the Park Service funding lost through the sequestration cuts early this year.
"...our parks likely will continue to lack the ability to restore all the rangers they lost to the sequester and other cuts, and closed signs are likely to remain at park facilities—part and parcel of a slow motion shutdown for our national parks that cannot be sustained without irreparable damage," he said. "The imposed sequester cuts left 2,000 fewer rangers to protect and manage park resources, abruptly impacting the visitor experience by closing campgrounds, visitor centers and roads.
"The budget deal restores most of sequester cuts, but does not guarantee that the congressional appropriations committees will provide the resources the parks need to put needed rangers back in our parks and begin to address the maintenance backlog."
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Comments
It's better than nothing. is that all we can expect in 2014?
That's all I can say about it.
Danny
But more peril for the country. But thats OK, we can send the country down the tubes as long as the parks get a crumb.
We'll see if this actually manages to pass both the House and Senate and then get a signature at the White House.
If so, perhaps the greatest significance is that both parties actually agreed on any kind of a budget deal without taking the country to the brink - or beyond - of another shutdown or similar manufactured crisis.
Based on limited details so far, it sounds like there are some items both parties aren't happy with including - or not including - in the bill. Could this possibly signal a glimmer of hope for those seemingly lost concepts of compromise and cooperation in the halls of Congress?
But compromise will send the country down the tube, won't it?
Seriously, after reading a lot about this and watching a very informative and unbiased piece on the PBS Newshour this evening, I'm kind of optimistic.
Yes, if it doesn't stop our out of control deficit spending it will send our country down the tubes. The goal isn't compromise, the goal is financial viability. The current (and compromised) path isn't financially viable.
Danny, am inclined to agree, at least the January 5th deadline maybe off the table, that will certainly help the parks and those other agencies and their employees who will not suffer another debacle like the recent October 1st situation. But that said, I am disappointed in the proposed compromise. Again, the trickle down economics, budget deficit is a disaster waiting to happen crowd, appears to have protected the welfare to corporations, tax breaks for the richest americans, well the income gains will continue to go to the top 10%, (some say 1%), while the rest of us, our parks, schools, roads, environment, living wages, pensions and medical plans, just to name a few, will foot the bill. Our poorest citizens of course will pay the highest price. After 30 years of failed "free market" economic policy, you would think we could do better than this. But lets hope for the best.
Ron, you just nailed the real reasons the country may go down the tube. Thank you for a rational comment.
I strongly believe this budget deal is about the best that could have been gotten in the current circumstances. Conservatives want more reforms to entitlement programs, progressives want more tax revenue, and so on. Well, neither will happen in a divided government unless both sides really decide to sacrifice some of their priorities for a "grand bargain." So at least they (logically) met in the middle to ameliorate some of the worst parts of the sequester for the next two years and provide some budget stability. This is a good thing for the parks.
As Mr. Obey noted and as I pointed out earlier, this will also give time for an omnibus spending bill to be negotiated that will allocate resources more wisely than the sequester's cuts. Again, this is a good thing - the appropriators have been hoping to get to do this for somet time.
Technically, if such a spending bill is not agreed upon, it is possible that another government shutdown would occur on January 15th when the current CR expires. Highly unlikely, however.
Finally, I can't hold back from responding to rmackies's blatant partisan trolling. Seriously, failed "free market" economic policy? I'm truly hoping your quotation marks are simply a sarcastic reference rather than a literal statement... (I guess some will just have to wish for President Warren in 2016?)