The Dane County Rape Crisis Center, 128 E. Olin Ave., is bracing for big cuts in the wake of a presidential budget that would eliminate a significant portion of its funding.
The Victims of Crime Act currently provides federal funds to local governments for distribution to programs like the Rape Crisis Center. VOCA money accounts for $78,000, or approximately 15 percent, of the center's roughly $600,000 budget.
According to Director Kelly Anderson, the Rape Crisis Center is already stretched thin, relying heavily on volunteers to maintain its free services.
If they take away 15 percent of our budget, there's no way to make that up,\ Anderson said. ""The city can't give up any more money; the county can't give us any money. It's just not there.""
The city already provides approximately $150,000 in funding to the Center, according to George Twigg, spokesperson for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. Twigg said Madison would try to support the center if federal funding is reduced.
""The city would try to fill as much of the gap as it could,"" Twigg said. ""But the end result could be the people who are served by this center not being able to get the resources they need in a timely way.""
Anderson said the Rape Crisis Center is unique in Madison, providing an outlet for victims of sexual abuse and assault.
""There are just not other resources for this,"" Anderson said. ""We're it, and we do it for free.""
According to UW-Madison public affairs professor Andrew Reschovsky, budget cuts are not new to the Bush administration. Reschovsky said Bush is seeking budget reductions to cover the cost of recent tax cuts.
""A lot of the problems with the deficit come with giving big tax cuts mainly to the wealthy,"" Reschovsky said.
Reschovsky said ""discretionary"" programs such as the Victims of Crime Act are often the first to go when budgets shrink. He added that big programs such as the war in Iraq are usually the last.
""Not very many people in Washington are going to argue that we should stop putting money toward defense,"" Reschovsky said.
Anderson said Bush is ""trying to steal from victims to pay off the deficit"" and maintained that the Rape Crisis Center stood to be denied of the federal funding it deserves.
""It's just going to the big gaping black hole of the annual budget deficit,"" Anderson said of federal funding eliminated from VOCA programs. ""And it won't be going to crime victims, which is what Congress intended.""\
