President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget, released yesterday, includes $500 million to fund the Help America Vote Act. This figure is less than half the $1.045 billion authorized by the Act for FY04, and is one-third of the $1.5 billion the Senate has proposed for FY 03. The Act imposes a number of election reform requirements that states and localities must meet as soon as next year. The delay in providing funding, and the meager amounts now being discussed, will make it nearly impossible for the states to take the steps necessary to improve our electoral system. House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD), the lead Democratic House sponsor of the election reform bill, released the following statement in response to the president's budget.

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