The budget proposed by President Donald Trump would dramatically cut federal spending in many areas, reducing or eliminating programs that many associations say their industries and professional sectors need to thrive.

The $4.1 trillion budget largely reduces domestic spending for social welfare programs, the arts and science and research, according to a CNN analysis of the plan. However, the administration is proposing an increase in defense spending by 10 percent. http://cnn.it/2qgAWGQ

The budget contains items that will please many business groups, including cuts to environmental protection programs and proposals to open more public lands to drilling and mining. But it also includes items that don't sit well with associations that otherwise agree with the administration's priorities.

In a statement, National Ocean Industries Association President Randall Luthi praised the budget's "pro-American energy message." But he criticized proposals for eliminating an oil revenue sharing program for Gulf Coast states and selling off half the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

"Eliminating Gulf state revenue sharing for offshore energy production would punish coastal states that support and host the development of home-grown energy and jobs, and would be a serious step backward in the quest for energy reliability and independence," Luthi said. "In addition, the proposed sale of one-half of the nation's emergency oil supply in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve could threaten domestic energy security by limiting our ability to counter any unforeseen supply interruptions."

While the budget pushes for expanded use of fossil fuels, it calls for slashing renewable energy programs in the Department of Energy by 70 percent. Associations representing the solar and wind energy vowed to work with Congress to maintain the funding.

"We were disappointed to see the administration's proposal to slash programs that promote American-made clean energy," said Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "Clean energy research programs have been priorities of both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses, and the investments have paid off many times over."

"Over 100,000 jobs are now supported by American wind power, including manufacturing jobs across the Rust Belt, and billions are being invested in rural America" said Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. "Funding for cost-saving research efforts, like those housed in the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, helps advance wind energy technology in a way that translates into more well-paying jobs and more savings for American homeowners and businesses."

The budget also targets a federal block grant program that local communities use for infrastructure, parks and recreation. Barbara Tulipane, CEO of the National Recreation and Park Association, called the cuts "reckless and shortsighted."

"This budget proposal eliminates or decimates programs that underpin the successful decades-long partnership between local and federal governments," Tulipane said. "Park and recreation agencies don't look to the federal government for all of their needs, but a reliable, dependable federal partnership is critical to local park and recreation infrastructure investment."

The American Public Transportation Association was disappointed with the decision to phase out grant programs that states and communities use to help fund local public transportation projects.

"The Trump administration has made it clear that infrastructure investment is important for our country's economic prosperity. Yet, this budget proposal to eliminate critical public transportation
infrastructure projects is inconsistent with addressing America's critical transportation needs and helping America's economy prosper," said Richard White, acting CEO of APTA.

The American Farm Bureau Federation is unhappy the budget would carve $4 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's budget. It would also dramatically roll back federal crop insurance, which has helped many farmers stay in business after poor harvests.

"Farm income is down substantially since Congress passed the last farm bill," AFBF President Zippy Duvall said. "USDA cuts of this magnitude in the current economic cycle would be unwarranted and unwise."

The proposed cuts in research and science worried the American Association for the Advancement for Science. CEO Rush Holt said that if enacted, the cuts would "devastate America's science and technology enterprise."

"Slashing funding of critically important federal agencies threatens our nation's ability to advance cures for disease, develop new energy technologies, improve public health, train the next generation of scientists and engineers and grow the American economy," he said.

The Endocrine Society blasted proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The proposed cuts would stymie and slow efforts to better understand and treat hundreds of debilitating hormone-related diseases and conditions such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, thyroid disorders, cancer and infertility," said Ruth Keri, co-chair of the society's Research Affairs Core Committee.

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization said it was still reviewing the budget, but the group found positive aspects. Among the proposals was the elimination of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, "an unelected and unaccountable board which threatens to come between patients and their healthcare providers when deciding upon the best course of treatment," BIO CEO Jim Greenwood said in a statement.

However, Greenwood added BIO is worried about proposed re-opening of technical FDA user fee negotiations as well as suggested cuts in funding levels for scientific and public health preparedness programs.

"We look forward to working with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, as well as the administration, to ensure that these critical programs supporting public health and basic biomedical and biobased technologies research receive adequate funding," he said.

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