BY SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER
President Trump has released his recommendations for next year’s federal budget.
I appreciate the president’s budget suggestions and will carefully consider his recommendations as Congress begins the process to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year. Under the Constitution, it is Congress’ job to set spending priorities and pass appropriations bills, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, my priorities will continue to be making sure our national defense, national laboratories, the National Institutes of Health and national parks have the resources they need.
I was encouraged to see the president’s budget call for ending the practice of surprise medical billing, which results in one in every five patients who visit the Emergency Room receiving a several thousand dollar bill a few weeks later that they did not expect.
Here is a story that illustrates this problem: A father from Knoxville told me he took his son to an emergency room after a bicycle accident. His son was treated, Todd paid a $150 copay because the emergency room was “in-network” for his health insurance, and they headed home.
So he was surprised when he received a bill several weeks later for $1,800 — because even though the emergency room was “in-network,” the doctor who treated his son was not.
Ending surprise medical billing is a problem almost everyone wants fixed, and is a perfect example of how Congress and the president can work together to reduce out of pocket health care costs for patients.
I was also glad to see the budget continues to include the president’s proposal to rebuild our national parks. The Restore Our Parks Act, legislation that I introduced with Senators Portman, Warner, and King, is based on the president’s proposal and will cut in half the maintenance backlog at our national parks. This legislation is the only way to address the deferred maintenance backlog in our 419 national parks, and the Trump administration agrees.
This will be especially important for Tennessee, given that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the country, and has a large economic impact on our state.
The budget proposes a major increase in funding for career and technical education programs to help train more workers for our growing economy. The budget also proposes new education tax credit scholarships to give low-income families more of the same choices that wealthier families already have when choosing a school for their children.
Finally, President Trump’s decision to embrace alternatives to storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain is welcome news. If we want a future with nuclear power that produces clean, cheap, and reliable energy and creates good jobs that keep America competitive in a global economy, then we have to solve the nuclear waste stalemate. There is bipartisan support for allowing consolidated nuclear waste storage at private facilities, and I look forward to working with the president to solve this problem.
I look forward to working with the president and my colleagues in Congress to ensure these important priorities receive the funding they need.