PRESIDENT Barack Obama revealed his $3.8 trillion budget for 2013 to Congress on Monday, and although insiders are saying Congress is not expected to pass this budget, part of the President’s proposal demonstrates his commitment to job security for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Toby Chaudhuri, an officer of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, said the President’s budget reflects the belief that the United States has always done its best when everyone gets a fair shot and everyone plays by the rules.

Obama’s budget recognizes “that this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and those trying to reach it. What’s at stake is the very survival of the basic American promise that if you work hard, you can do well enough to raise a family, own a home and put a little away for retirement.”

To construct an economy that is built to last and provide security for Asian American and Pacific Islander families, the 2013 budget includes the following proposals:

• Support the DREAM Act – This would cut the deficit by $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.
  
  
• Strengthen Anti-Discrimination Enforcement – The budget proposes an increase for the Community Relations Service in the Department of Justice to fight hate crimes and provides a $14 million, or 4 percent, increase over the 2012 enacted level for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), which is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee.
• Promote Citizenship and Integration – The administration increases support for integration of new immigrants, proposing $11 million to promote citizenship through education and preparation programs, replication of promising practices in integration for use by communities across the nation, and expansion of innovative English learning tools.
• Support Learning Among Migrant and Refugee Children – The budget includes $393 million to support high-quality education programs for migrant children to help them overcome the unique challenges they face due to frequent moves among the states with disparities in curriculum, graduation requirements, or state academic content and student academic achievement standards.
• Support Minority Businesses – Of the various ethnic and racial groups in the United States, White non-Latinos and Asian Americans have the highest self-employment rates. To help businesses thrive, the budget provides $221 million for the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which provides capital to low-income communities across the nation and is targeting a portion of its funds to help bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities.
• Take Immediate Action to Support Growth and Job Creation – While the Obama administration has made progress in restarting job creation – with 3.7 million private sector jobs created over the past 23 months – the President believes much more needs to be done to put Americans back to work. Building off the provisions he proposed in the American Jobs Act, the President is calling for immediate steps to support job creation this year. These steps include extending the payroll tax cut through the end of the year – ensuring that 160 million workers do not see their taxes go up – providing aid to states and localities to hire and retain teachers and first responders, extending unemployment insurance, and making a $50 billion upfront investment in infrastructure.
• Give Every American a Fair Shot at Success by Improving and Reforming K-12 Education – Some Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have staggering educational needs that may be overlooked or masked by aggregated data. For example, only 14 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 25 years of age and older have at least a bachelor’s degree; and 40 percent of Hmong, 38 percent of Laotians, and 35 percent of Cambodians do not complete high school. The administration has jump-started landmark reforms in the education system by rewarding excellence and promoting innovation to support the achievement of all students, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.