Congressman John D. Dingell at the New York Stock Exchange.

The new Democratic majority has resulted in many new opportunities for Members of Congress. One of the most important is the opportunity to shape the federal budget. Congressman Dingell feels the previous Congress neglected the domestic programs that American families rely on the most, such as job training programs, health care services for children and veterans’, education programs like Head Start, energy assistance for low-income households, among many others.

In the 111th Congress, Democrats will have the opportunity to work with a new Administration to craft a budget that will begin to serve the American families who have been neglected for much too long. President Obama has already released a preliminary outline of the budget he plans to release in April. Some of the highlights include:

• Creates of a $634 billion “Health Reform Reserve Fund” to help pay for health care reform;
• Increases the maximum Pell Grant to $5,550 for 2010, and indexes the Pell Grant to the Consumer Price Index plus one percent for future years;
• Provides $2.5 billion over six years for a new College Access and Completion Fund;
• Includes $20 billion in tax incentives for energy investments that will create thousands of new jobs;
• Proposes a market-based cap-and-trade approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that will fund additional investments in energy totaling $150 billion over ten years; and
• Expands funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs by $25 billion over the next five years.