BETSY DEVOS/BUDGET/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Former California First Lady Maria Shriver, whose mother founded the Special Olympics, is vowing to fight Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ latest attempt to end federal funding for the program for athletes with developmental disabilities. Shriver told POLITICO in a statement that she is ‘deeply disappointed’ in the proposal to slash nearly $18 million in federal funding for the Special Olympics and called the move ‘outrageous, unacceptable — and not who were are as a country.’ DeVos has been in defense mode since President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2020 proposal included the budget cut, attracting bipartisan criticism from across the country. The Education Department’s last two budget proposals also called for same elimination, but Congress has rejected the reduction. The funds are just a portion of the overall revenue from all sources for the Special Olympics, which reported $124 million in unrestricted revenues, gains and other support for the year ending Dec. 31, 2017, in a financial statement posted on its website.”
–Carla Marinucci, “Shriver leads fight against Trump administration’s Special Olympics budget cut,” Politico, March 27, 2019 7:55 pm