Keller @ Large: Massachusetts Winners, Losers In Trump Budget Plan

BOSTON (CBS) - The Trump administration has released a budget proposal, and like all presidential budgets, it will almost surely be torn up and rewritten by Congress. But the priorities it lays out are certainly worth thinking about, especially here in Massachusetts.

For instance, the Trump budget contains good news for veterans, with veterans' affairs in line for a nearly six-percent increase, and it could be good news for our defense-related industries, with a ten-percent budget hike proposal for the Pentagon.

And there's more money to address the opioid abuse epidemic, which continues to destroy lives across Massachusetts.

But other sectors of the Massachusetts economy don't fare too well under the Trump-era priorities.

Our economy relies heavily on the health care sector, especially the medical research that thrives in our universities and hospitals and that's where the Trump hatchet falls the hardest.

There's a 16-percent cut in Health and Human Services that includes a huge reduction in funding for the National Institutes of Health, the agency overseeing most medical research.

Also worrisome for us - deep cuts in transportation and federal grants to help communities deal with climate change.

Related: Keller: Proposed Meals On Wheels Cut Is Disgusting

For those aging Massachusetts cities that have turned to the arts to help revive them, look out - the National Endowment for the Arts may be a goner.

As I said, Congress will surely scrap some of this.

But if you've been apathetic about politics before, this would be a good time to take notice and speak up. After all, it's your money we're talking about, and it may be your economic future that's on the line.