What The Trump Budget Means For Boating

On March 16, 2017, when President Donald Trump released his proposed budget for next year, he called for a $54 billion increase in defense spending for fiscal year 2018 that begins October 1 of this year. To pay for it, his "Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again" has advocated funding cuts by roughly the same amount that would hit "most federal agencies" and many government-provided services, including some that boaters have relied on for decades.

While the blueprint contained few specifics — that comes later in the cycle, and much has likely changed already as you read this — the document calls for retaining federal funding for "core government functions," some of which boaters need, such as "accurate and timely weather forecasts," with more than $1 billion for the National Weather Service, as well as maintaining funding for the development of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) charting services, and funding its current generation of polar-orbiting and geostationary weather satellites.

Among the proposed cuts that could affect boating, however, the blueprint calls for a 17-percent reduction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Works side (which pays for dredging, waterways management, and flood control). Whether or not Congress adjusts that cut and how it may play out on our navigable waterways will become clearer by the September 30 deadline.

Boaters should keep their eyes on the fate of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget. Trump's budget proposal calls for a 31 percent cut that would eliminate funding for the EPA's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which works on invasive-species reduction, pollution cleanup, and wildlife protection; the Chesapeake Bay Program, which oversees the restoration of the bay and its watershed; as well as water quality and marine-life preservation programs for Lake Champlain, Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and South Florida. The Trump budget also eliminates many of the EPA's air-pollution, clean-power, climate, research, and regional pollution initiatives.

Given the initial congressional outcry against all the cuts, the Trump administration could have trouble passing the cuts in domestic spending it seeks for fiscal year 2018 — but time will tell, and it will likely be September before we have a good understanding of what next year's budget will really look like.

The initial draft of the White House budget blueprint called for cutting the U.S. Coast Guard budget by 14 percent. The administration quickly backed off that cut, however, now proposing to keep the service's $10 billion budget flat compared with the previous year. Agency commanders say the Coast Guard needs additional funding to fulfill its duties, which include search-and-rescue efforts, defense against drug smugglers, and immigration law enforcement.

Meanwhile, in other line items to keep an eye on, the initial Trump proposal would eliminate $250 million in targeted NOAA grants and programs that support coastal and marine management, research, and education. Also eliminated would be NOAA's Sea Grant program, which is located in every coastal and Great Lakes state and works on a wide scope of valuable initiatives, from sustainable coastal development to maritime law and clean-marina programs. Funding cuts are also targeted for the development of a next-generation weather modeling system, efforts to extend operational weather outlooks from 16 to 30 days, and a tsunami-warning system for the West Coast. Congress will have the final say on the 2018 budget this fall when the 12 budget bills required under the Constitution come to the vote.

"Funding for boating-related services falls under the agencies affected by these proposed cuts," says BoatUS Government Affairs manager David Kennedy. "How these agencies will allocate reduced funds is unclear. Recreational boaters are one constituency among many that use the services of agencies like the National Weather Service, the Coast Guard, NOAA, EPA, and the National Park Service. But we're important constituents of these agencies. We have to make the case that broader programs and spending authorities that deal with services like environmental restoration, fisheries management, and navigation all have important components that boaters need and use."

Kennedy also pointed out that cuts in the Army Corps of Engineers' dredging budget, for instance, could be applied to all of that agency's projects, from digging ever-deeper channels at huge container ports to maintaining shallow-draft harbors and shoaling ocean inlets navigated by recreational boaters. Or, he says, through the appropriations process, Congress could tell the Army Corps where to make the cuts.

"It comes down to how an agency, with direction from the Office of Management and Budget and from Congress, decides to spend the money it gets," he says. "We're keeping a very close eye on this whole process and making the case for boating every time there's a legitimate opportunity."

Trust Fund Protects Specific Boating Programs

Under the proposed budget, the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety, which promotes boater safety and education, will be affected by cuts (an estimated 1.6 percent). But because it's partially funded through the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, the effects on its programs will be minimized.

"Those 'trust-fund' monies come from federal excise taxes we boaters pay for boat fuel, fishing gear, and other essentials," says David Kennedy, manager of BoatUS Government Affairs. "Through this fund, those dollars funnel back to the states to pay for boating safety, education, and law-enforcement programs; launch ramps for trailer boaters; marina slips for transient boats; sewage pumpout facilities; and a variety of salt- and freshwater fishery-conservation efforts. Trust-fund dollars are not governed by Congress's annual budget decisions."