Longoria: White House budget effectively wipes out Hidalgo County’s Community Service Agency

EDINBURG, Texas – Jaime R. Longoria, director of Hidalgo County’s Community Service Agency, says his department would be virtually eliminated under President Trump’s new budget proposals.

That budget will be amended by Congress so Longoria’s programs could yet be spared.

“All three of our programs are on the President’s list, and all three are zeroed out,” Longoria said.

The Rio Grande Guardian interviewed Longoria immediately following a webinar hosted by Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Coordinator Mario Reyna. The webinar, requested by Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, featured many of the clinics and agencies that help the poor and disadvantaged in Hidalgo County.

While other speakers had concerns about the “skinny” budget, as the White House proposal is called, it was Longoria who sounded the loudest alarm. He said around 78 percent of the people his department serves live below the federal poverty line and almost all the money his department receives comes from the federal government.

In his interview with the Guardian, Longoria gave details of the programs his department handles. One is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which assists low income families in paying their utility bills. 

“That’s about $8 million and we serve about 8,000 families. That’s about eight percent of the eligible population for that program. So, there’s a lot more people that could benefit from this program, if we had the money,” Longoria said. 

Longoria said about 46 percent of the people his department serves are elderly and 30 percent are children. The other 24 percent are working age.

“Those are the ones that we try to pick out of line and try to figure out a way to get them connected to job training and other kinds of activities. Now those other activities are funded by a different program. It’s called the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). That is worth $2 million. It allows us to do job training, tuition assistance, dropout prevention and recovery.”

If the Community Services Block Grant program was eliminated, as it is in the White House’s version of the budget, Longoria said he would not have the money to help with disaster relief efforts.

Longoria said Hidalgo County Commissioners Court passed two resolutions last week. One supported the retention of LIHEAP and the other supported the retention of CSBG. “The resolutions call on Congress to continue funding each program. The were supported unanimously.”

During the webinar Longoria effectively issued a call to arms, urging all the organizations on the call to unite in protest at the proposed budget cuts. In his interview, Longoria pointed out he cannot advocate, merely educate.

“We should be educating people about what the effects of this budget, if passed, are going to be. I think that’s our responsibility. We have to walk that fine line between lobbying and educating. But certainly education is a responsibility that we have, especially for that silent population that you won’t see on television.”

Longoria was at pains to explain he was not speaking out simply to save his job.

“Some of the people on the call today were saying, let’s wait and see; let’s see what the process holds. They also said, let’s overcome the budget cuts by writing more grants. My point to that is, our $10 million or $11 million is not the only budget that’s going to get hit. The White House is also proposing the elimination of Head Start, proposing the elimination of other programs. When you take $50 million or $100 million out of our economy, that’s a lot of grants you have to write, a lot of cub cakes you have to sell.”

Longoria finished the interview by saying it is easy but wrong to vilify the population that uses Hidalgo County’s Community Service Agency.

“I hear it a lot. Those people that are getting help, they don’t want to work, or they’re lazy. But when you look at the numbers of my agency, 46 percent are elderly folks and 30 percent are children. When you vilify somebody, it makes you feel better because you don’t have to worry about them,” Lonogoria said.

“I took some pictures of people on our outdoor camera system that were waiting for me at three in the morning on one of those cold nights in January, February or March. People are bundled up, there are people in wheelchairs, there’s another lady with an oxygen mask. And so, when I met with the legislative staff I showed them these pictures, I said, ‘can you show me lazy in this picture?’”

Editor’s Note: The Rio Grande Guardian will feature the analysis of other speakers on the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force webinar in upcoming editions.

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