February 12, 2025

Chicago, IL - Today Fair Share America released this statement from Executive Director Kristen Crowell on the House GOP Budget Resolution:

“Today’s budget resolution is an insult from House GOP leadership to the millions of hardworking American families around the country who spent weeks urging them not to slash programs like Medicaid, SNAP and public education to fund more tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. 

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“The deep cuts in this budget resolution are unwise, unjust, and unwanted. This may be just the first step in pushing through even more tax breaks for the richest and big business on the backs of working people, but it will not be without consequences. Good luck to the legislators as they try to explain this approach in their districts next week – these priorities do not align with those of everyday Americans.”

INSIGHT FROM THE STATES:

Americans across the political divide have spent the last three weeks making it known that gutting vital programs is NOT what they voted for. Some highlights:

Oregon: “Immediate, severe, and life-threatening consequences” for survivors

Portland Business Journal: “If federal funding were to be cut en masse, it would have immediate, severe, and life-threatening consequences for survivors experiencing domestic and sexual violence, child and elder abuse, human trafficking and stalking. Victim services, like emergency shelter, housing stabilization, and other forms of crisis intervention, would be severely reduced or lost altogether. We need to bolster services for survivors, not take it away.” - Melissa Erlbaum, 2/3/25

Kentucky: “Devastating effects for students and their families”

CNN: “Bell County’s school district typically receives 10% of its budget from federal dollars, though it has been higher in recent years due to Covid-19 relief funds. Even a slight reduction in those dollars could have devastating effects for students and their families, said Tom Gambrel, the district’s superintendent. It would mean teacher layoffs, bigger classroom sizes and less attention for their most vulnerable students. Gambrel, like most of Bell County, said he cast his ballot for Trump in November with his students in mind. “I don’t think that anyone in our county wants to cut our school funding. And I don’t think that anyone voted for that,” he said.” - 1/16/25

Delaware: “Loss of critical programs for seniors” 

The News Journal: One of the most devastating effects of federal budget cuts would be the loss of critical programs for seniors. … If federal Medicaid funding is slashed, Delaware will face difficult choices — reducing eligibility or finding alternative funding sources. … Medicaid provides more than 60% of the funding for nursing homes around the country, which are home to more than 1.2 million Americans, whose loved ones are certainly not all Democrats or nonvoters.” - Carmen Facciolo, 2/4/25

New York: “Cripple the rural hospitals and patients” 

The New York Times: “Cuts to Medicaid would cripple the rural hospitals and patients represented by the congressional Republicans who would need to pass this plan. Republican politicians increasingly claim to champion working-class families, especially as more of these voters lean to the right. Yet shuttering a local hospital to finance tax cuts for top earners would be the ultimate betrayal of those very constituents.”  - Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, 2/2/25

Maine: “Increase state income tax”

Portland Press Herald: “If federal taxes are lowered, the state of Maine may increase state income tax to make up for lost revenue. Mainers already face some of the highest income and property tax burdens in the United States. Any tax increases at the state level will hurt.” - Tabitha Swanson, 1/18/25

California:“The poor are not poor enough and the rich are not rich enough”

The Los Angeles Times: “Renewing the 2017 tax cuts and financing them with spending cuts is the right policy only if the “problem” is that the poor are not poor enough and the rich are not rich enough.” - William Gale, 2/6/25

Minnesota: “Basic services that people rely on”

Albert Lead Tribune: “Republicans will be proposing cuts to various programs that primarily benefit ordinary working people. These programs provide the basic services that people rely on to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.” - Joe Pacovsky, 2/4/25

Louisiana: “Sacrifice hurricane protection”

Verite News: “There are several hurricane protection projects still awaiting federal funding. As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of Katrina later this year, we can celebrate that we have come a long way. But we still have a long way to go. While almost all taxpayers support the elimination of actual documented government waste, now is not the time to sacrifice hurricane protection, or benefits to vulnerable populations, on the altar of political popularity.” - Robert Collins, 2/11/25