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Saturday, March 3, 2001

A day after completing a five-state tour promoting his 2002 budget proposal, Bush echoed that message to the organization dedicated to giving the country's states and territories a more readily heard voice in Congress and the administration. As he has done repeatedly in his appeal to the public, Bush said he wanted the group's assistance in amassing support for his spending proposals.

"I can assure you this administration understands the importance of local control of schools, that we don't believe in the federalization of the public school system, that one size does not fit all when it comes to education," Bush said.

Bush stressed the importance of state and local school districts being able to "chart their own path" for children, saying he would not back a national student skills test.

"One of the reforms that I think is going to be crucial is to work with states and local jurisdictions to develop strong accountability systems, that in return for federal money that you must show us whether or not children are learning to read and write and add and subtract. We will not have a national test. A test devised at the national level will undermine local control of schools," Bush said.

On his budget, Bush vowed to slow spending growth.

"First, there was a contest at the end of the last session to figure out who could spend the most money. It didn't matter what your party was, it looked like. The budget grew by 8 percent. That's a substantial growth in federal expenditures. My budget slows discretionary spending down to 4 percent. That's more than the rate of inflation. It's a pretty high increase in expenditures."

On taxes Bush's plan drops the top tax rate from 39.6 percent to 33 percent, which he said would enable unincorporated small businesses to expand. He has also pushed for eliminating the inheritance tax, consolidating tax brackets from five to four, and reducing the "marriage penalty" tax.

"Tax relief is not only a way to kick-start the economy that is, in fact, slowing down, but tax relief is also an opportunity to achieve certain objectives, to make the code more fair and to make the small-business person more likely to employ additional folks. And that's my case. I think we're going to get it done," Bush said.

Earlier this week the Democrats unveiled an alternate plan that would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and reduce estate taxes and the marriage penalty. The Democrats' plan is estimated to "cost" about $900 million. Critics of Bush's plan say its costs could balloon to more than $2 trillion after interest and tax extenders.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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