What’s in President Trump’s Proposed 2021 Budget For Moms?

By Joy Burkhard, MBA, Mom Congress

It was less than a month ago that the president signed the 2020 budget, but his 2021 budget proposal was just released.

The record $4.8 trillion budget proposal includes a lot. According to the New York Times, it would “spend more on restricting immigration and bolstering the U.S. nuclear arsenal and less on safety net programs and student loan initiatives.”

It also includes substantial funding for our Mom Congress priorities, specifically noting:

“Improves Maternal Health in America.

Women in the United States have higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity than in any other developed nation—and the rates are rising.”

The Budget provides $74 million in new resources to address this significant public health problem by focusing on four strategic goals:

1. achieve healthy outcomes for all women of reproductive age by improving prevention and treatment;

2. achieve healthy pregnancies and births by prioritizing quality improvement;

3. achieve healthy futures by optimizing postpartum health; and

4. improve data and bolster research to inform future interventions.

The budget is not likely to get approved as-is by Congress as both Democrats and Republicans have taken issue with it. However, we predict no members of Congress will propose cuts to his proposed investments in the health of mothers. It is the #yearofthemother, after all, and not to mention an election year!

For now, we are grateful for the administration's focus on these critical pillars and will keep our Mom Congress members and eNews subscribers apprised of related policies (and opportunities to get engaged) as they progress.

We are learning that though the president’s budget proposal includes an investment in maternal mortality, there are other reductions in spending that support mothers, including, for example, a reduction back to $60 million for Breastfeeding Peer Counselors after an increase to $90 million in 2020.