For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 29, 2012
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

Ryan’s budget would cut domestic discretionary to record-low levels

The non-defense discretionary portion of the budget includes security spending; safety net programs; most of the funding for the enforcement of consumer protection, environmental protection, and financial regulation; and practically all of the federal government’s civilian public investments. The current level of domestic discretionary spending is 4 percent of GDP, about equal to the historical average since the early 1960s. Today’s Snapshot illustrates that Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget implements massive cuts to the domestic discretionary budget, bringing it to 2.1 percent of GDP, the lowest level in over 50 years.

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