370 Commerce & Housing Credit:Eliminate Five Corporate Welfare Programs in Commerce Department
-
2016892
-
2017895
-
2018897
-
2019908
-
2020929
-
2021950
-
2022970
-
2023996
-
20241016
-
20251034
-
2016-20204521
-
2016-20259487
Sources
Savings are expressed as budget authority and were calculated by using the FY 2014 enacted spending levels for each of the five programs as footnoted above. Spending levels were increased at the same rate as discretionary spending growth for 2016–2025, according to the most recent August 2014 CBO baseline.
×Technical Notes on Scoring
CBO Baseline
Unless otherwise noted, calculations for savings for each recommendation relies on the most recent Congressional Budget Office baseline, as found in “An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024,” published August 27, 2014, has been used.
Savings “Totals”
While totals for the five and 10 year savings are provided by section and for the complete set of recommendations, there are two reasons they should not be viewed as representing total savings for The Budget Book.
First, as noted in the introduction, The Heritage Foundation would recommend that the savings realized in the Function 050 Defense section would stay within the Department of Defense to strengthen the nation’s defense capabilities.
Second, the numbers cannot be deemed to represent the realized savings if every single recommendation were adopted because policy changes made in one program can impact spending levels in other programs. Thus, the numbers in the table do not reflect any potential interactions between the various policy changes affecting spending or savings.
×Heritage Recommendation:
- International Trade and Investment Administration ($460.6 million in FY 2014) 1
- Economic Development Administration ($246.5 million in FY 2014) 2
- Minority Business Development Agency ($28 million in FY 2014) 3
- Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership ($129 million in FY 2014) 4
- Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia ($15 million in FY 2014) 5
This proposal saves $892 million in 2016, and $9.5 billion over 10 years.
Rationale:
Contributing Expert

David R. Burton focuses on tax matters, securities law, entitlements and regulatory and administrative law issues as The Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow in economic policy.


David R. BurtonSenior Fellow in Economic Policy
Heritage Experts

Diane Katz, who has analyzed and written on public policy issues for more than two decades, is a research fellow in regulatory policy at The Heritage Foundation.


Diane KatzResearch Fellow in Regulatory Policy

James L. Gattuso handles regulatory and telecommunications issues for The Heritage Foundation as a Senior Research Fellow in its Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.


James L. GattusoSenior Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy
Additional Reading
- Michael Sargent et al., “Cutting the Commerce, Justice, and Science Spending Bill by $2.6 Billion: A Starting Point,” Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4220, May 12, 2014.
- Brian M. Riedl, “The Advanced Technology Program,” testimony before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, United States Senate, May 26, 2005.
- Brian M. Riedl, “The Advanced Technology Program: Time to End this Corporate Welfare Handout,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 1665, July 15, 2003.