For Russian government economic program, see National Priority Projects

National Priority Projects

The National Priority Projects of the Russian Federation is a program of the Russian government set out by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech on September 5, 2005. The program is aimed to develop social welfare in Russia by additional funding by the state of four selected projects...

The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a think tank and advocacy group that provides research designed to influence U.S. federal spending priorities. Identified as "liberal" and "progressive," the group has been highly critical of U.S. spending on the Iraq War and has attempted to draw attention to how such budget items as military spending and "tax cuts for the richest 10%" could translate into spending on categories such as renewable energy, "public safety officers, schools or health care coverage."

Self-Described Purpose and Mission

NPP offers citizen and community groups tools and resources to shape federal budget and policy priorities which promote social

Social justice

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

 and economic justice. NPP is a nonpartisan and nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. Greg Speeter founded NPP in 1983 and was Executive Director of the organization from 1983 until 2008 when Greg assumed the role of Director of the newly formed Networking and Training department of NPP. Jo Comerford assumed the role of Executive Director in July of 2008.

Functions of the National Priorities Project

• Provides data on the impact of federal spending policies for states, cities and counties
• Educates and trains citizens, activists, media and elected officials on the federal budget, the budget’s local impact and community needs
• Collaborates with national groups on federal budget initiatives
• Facilitates dialogue and action between national social justice and security policy groups

Origins

The National Priorities Project began in 1983 to help community groups understand and respond to federal budget cuts in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 communities.

Hampered by a lack of information on how federal policies affected local communities, NPP built a coalition of community groups in Western Massachusetts that created the first-ever analysis of the impact of spending policies at the congressional district level. They found that over a two-year period, the First Congressional District had lost over $54 million in housing, education, health care and other monies.

Shocked by this report, the district’s Congressperson, Silvio Conte, became a strong supporter of more federal spending for community-based programs and came out against a “balanced budget amendment” that slashed the federal safety net.

On the President's budget

Every year, NPP releases a publication breaking down the impact of the President’s budget for each state. In 2005, this release was covered by 49 media outlets and distributed to thousands of activists via national and local organization networks.

On tax day

NPP issues an annual publication titled “Where do your tax dollars go?”, which shows for each state and nearly 200 cities, town and counties how the federal government spent the average household’s tax dollars. This publication also reaches thousands of citizens and activists and is used in local actions across the country to raise awareness of federal spending priorities.

On national security

In August, 2005, NPP launched a new section of its website focusing on our federal tax dollars abroad and how foreign policy impacts us at home. The web pages include maps showing the distribution of U.S. economic and military aid around the world, graphs comparing the U.S. with other countries and briefs explaining security policies and proposals for better national security.

NPP is a member of the Security Policy Working Group, a collaboration of security policy experts working to improve national security policy. The publication "Better Security for Less Money," released in June, 2005, summarized proposals for military spending cuts and what the saved dollars could buy each state and 100 cities in local services. NPP is playing a leading role in facilitating the “Alternative Security Project,” a collaboration between security policy groups and domestic needs groups to further both economic and national security.

On the cost of war in Iraq

Since the start of the Iraq War, NPP has been the single source for showing the cost of the war for each state and 400 cities, towns and counties. The Cost of War

Cost of War

Cost of War is a real-time cost estimation counter for the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War maintained by the National Priorities Project. As of June 1, 2010 both wars had a combined estimated cost of over 1 trillion dollars, separately the Iraq War had an estimated cost of 725 billion dollars and...

 publications have been used extensively by virtually every major peace organization, hundreds of media outlets and tens of thousands of interested citizens.

On the NPP database

In 2002, NPP released an online database with state-level data and statistics across a broad range of issues, including hunger, military, housing, income and poverty, health, education, labor and basic demographics. The database continues to be a popular tool for the media, researchers, and concerned citizens who want to have easy access to numbers regarding their local areas. In March 2005, the database expanded to include county-level data for all counties in the country.

On taxes

In 2000 and 2003, NPP collaborated with United for a Fair Economy and the Fair Taxes for All Coalition to produce two publications showing state-by-state the cost of repealing the estate tax.

On economic security

• In 2000, working in collaboration with National People's Action
  National People's Action
  National People’s Action is a network of metropolitan, regional, and statewide organizations that build grassroots power. NPA works to build the collective political will to advance racial and economic justice. National People’s Action has over 135 organizers and support staff working in...
  
  , NPP issued a major national report on the deterioration of American schools. The report was released at a widely attended briefing on Capitol Hill and was a basis for local campaigns across the country to increase education funding.
• In collaboration with Jobs with Justice
  Jobs with Justice
  Jobs with Justice is a national campaign for workers' rights in the United States. It was founded in 1987, and includes both individual members and affiliated organizations....
  
  , NPP authored a national report in 1998 that provided living wage information for all 50 states. It has been widely used in local campaigns to pass legislation establishing local living wages.
• In 1992, NPP issued a series of reports titled "Reinvest in Our Communities." These reports were used by community coalitions nationwide in the Presidential and congressional campaigns.
• In collaboration with the National Low Income Housing Coalition, NPP issued a national housing report that was used extensively in the successful effort to pass the Housing Act of 1990.
• NPP released the Common Sense Budget, an alternative federal budget, with two major national budget coalitions, the Common Agenda Coalition and the Citizens Budget Campaign.

On "grassroots"education

In addition to providing trainings on a regular basis to small groups throughout the Northeast:

• NPP offers a training each year at ACORN
  Acorn
  The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
  
  ’s annual national leadership conference to better inform ACORN’s citizen leaders about federal budget priorities
• NPP presented in 2004 and 2005 at NAACP’s annual convention. In 2005, NPP participated on a panel for two workshops, reaching 600 people, that focused on voter empowerment.