APPALACHIAN FUNDS ARE CUT 50% - Poorest Economies Taking A Hit

(02/04/2003)
Cash-strapped Appalachia is facing a 50 percent cut in the Bush budget, the just released federal document.

Hundreds of Appalachian communities suffering from a poor economy will be taking a hit.

The spending plan says 33 million dollars will be allocated to the Appalachian Regional Commission, down from the 66 million dollars the joint federal-state agency received this year.

West Virginia is the only state located entirely in the region defined by the federal government as Appalachia, where already scarce jobs are leaving the area.