Nearly one-third--11 billion dollars--of estimated Federal expenditures in
the fiscal year 1947 will be for purposes that are largely inherited from
the war--payments to veterans, interest on the Federal debt, and refunds of
taxes.
(a) For veterans.
"Veterans' pensions and benefits" has become one of the largest single
categories in the Federal Budget. I am recommending for this purpose total
appropriations of 4,787 million dollars for the fiscal year 1947.
Expenditures in the fiscal year are estimated, under present legislation,
at 4,208 million dollars. These expenditures will help our veterans through
their readjustment period and provide lasting care for those who were
disabled.
The Congress has provided unemployment allowances for veterans during their
readjustment period. Expenditure of 850 million dollars for this purpose is
anticipated for the fiscal year 1947. In addition, readjustment allowances
for self-employed veterans are expected to cost 340 million dollars in the
fiscal year 1947.
On May 28, 1945, in asking the Congress to raise the ceiling on benefits
for civilian unemployed to not less than 25 dollars a week during the
immediate reconversion period, I suggested that the Congress also consider
liberalizing veterans' allowances. Elsewhere in this Message I reiterate my
recommendation with respect to emergency unemployment compensation. I also
recommend increasing veterans' unemployment allowances from 20 dollars to
25 dollars a week. This would involve additional expenditures estimated at
approximately 220 million dollars for the fiscal year.
Included in the 1947 Budget is an expenditure of 535 million dollars for
veterans' education under provisions of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act.
This amount includes both tuition expenses and maintenance allowances. It
is expected that half a million veterans will be enrolled in our schools
and colleges during the year.
The ultimate benefit which veterans receive from the loan guarantee
provisions of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act depends largely on the
success of our stabilization program in restraining building costs and real
estate values. Under the revised procedure contained in recent amendments,
the administrative workload will be minimized by the almost complete
transfer of authority for approving the guarantees to private lending
agencies and private appraisers designated by the Veterans Administration.
This authority carries with it the responsibility for restricting the
guarantees to loans on reasonably valued properties. Costs of the program,
other than for administration, are estimated at 21 million dollars in the
fiscal year 1947.
Pensions for veterans will require expenditures estimated at 1,748 million
dollars for the fiscal year 1947. Two-thirds of this amount will be
received by veterans of the war which we have just won. This figure
includes 55 million dollars of increased pensions for student-veterans in
our vocational rehabilitation program. In addition, 170 million dollars
will be expended in transfers to the National Service Life Insurance fund
from general and special accounts.
Expenditures under the appropriation for salaries and expenses of the
Veterans Administration are estimated at 528 million dollars in the fiscal
year 1947. This includes 260 million dollars for medical care and the
operation of some 103,000 hospital and domiciliary beds.
A separate appropriation for hospital and domiciliary facilities,
additional to the total for veterans' pensions and benefits, covers
construction that will provide some 13,000 hospital beds as part of the
500-million dollar hospital construction program already authorized by the
Congress. The estimated expenditures of 130 million dollars for this
purpose are classified in the Budget as part of the general public works
program for the next fiscal year.
(b) For interest.
Interest payments on the public debt are estimated at 5 billion dollars in
the fiscal year 1947, an increase of 250 million dollars from the revised
estimate for the current fiscal year. This increase reflects chiefly
payment of interest on additions to the debt this year. Assuming
continuance of present interest rates, the Government's interest bill is
now reaching the probable postwar level.
(c) For refunds.
An estimated total of 1,585 million dollars of refunds will be paid to
individuals and corporations during the fiscal year 1947. Slightly over
half of this amount, or 800 million dollars, will be accessory to the
simplified pay-as-you-go method of tax collection, and will be the result
of overwithholding and over declaration of expected income. Most of the
remainder will arise from loss and excess-profits credit carrybacks,
recomputed amortization on war plants, and special relief from the excess
profits tax.
This category of expenditures is thus losing gradually its
"aftermath-of-war" character, and by the succeeding year will reflect
almost entirely the normal operation of loss carry-backs and current tax
collection.