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Schumer changes tune on bioterror cuts

Schumer leads push to reclaim lost funding for bioterror programs he previously voted to cut, records show

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

June 6, 2006

WASHINGTON - Sen. Charles Schumer, who has likened $7 million in federal cuts to New York's bioterrorism programs to "rubbing salt in an open wound," voted to cut those programs by 10.4 percent last year, according to Senate records.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) is pressuring Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Julie Gerberding to recalculate a new funding formula that disproportionately reduces aid to the state. Schumer, who red-flagged the issue during a news conference Sunday, will take his case directly to Gerberding today.

The proposed cuts could effect operations at city health department labs and environmental-testing programs, although it's possible some or all of the money might be made up through other federal funding, a city official told Newsday.

In December, Schumer didn't object to a unanimous voice vote approving a huge bipartisan spending bill that included $95 million in CDC bioterrorism cuts, largely because the measure also included restorations to student loan cuts and other domestic programs.

"There was 7 billion dollars in that bill, restoring student loans, health care, necessary things - every Democrat voted for it," Schumer said yesterday.

Schumer also voted for a $123 million bioterrorism cut during a preliminary vote on the package that passed 94-3 in October. He was joined by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton both times.

The senator said he "stands by" his decision and is speaking out now because of the disproportionate impact on New York, labeling the agency's decision and the Department of Homeland Security's $83 million cut to the city last week as a "betrayal."

Under the CDC's new formula, the state's overall funding would drop by about $4 million per year, while the city's level would fall by $3 million. Those represent reductions of between 12 and 16 percent from the previous year.

The state's per capita share of bioterrorism funding drops from $3.22 to $2.99; Wyoming's share remains steady at around $9.75 per person, according to Schumer's office.

Speaking at a housing announcement in Westbury yesterday, Schumer suggested that the White House have begun steering bioterror and homeland security funding to states with Republican majorities at the expense of Democratic-dominated areas such as New York.

"This could well be political ... 2006 is a very tough election year and they want to send the money to the red states," he said, adding that the cuts "definitely disadvantage blue areas over red areas ... To treat us as a sort of second-class citizen is really un-American."

CDC bioterrorism official Dr. Richard Besser said New York's portion of the $862 million pot is shrinking because the program is expanding from 36 to 72 cities.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbied Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt for more bioterrorism funding during a visit to Washington in February, according to a spokesman.

Staff Writers Joseph Mallia, Luis Perez and Bryan Virasami contributed to this story.