(BPRW) Fair Budget Coalition Urges Senate to Reject Harmful Budget Reconciliation Bill, Protect Essential Programs

(Black PR Wire) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Fair Budget Coalition,  a broad alliance of civil rights organizations, policy experts, and advocates for under-resourced communities, expressed to Senate leadership their strong opposition to the House passed budget reconciliation bill and any similar proposals under the Senate’s consideration.  

The House bill and Senate cuts released to date would inflate the historic harm on working families, deepen inequality, and undermine civil rights protections, the coalition warned. 

“The cuts made in the House-passed budget bill and the Senate budget cuts released to date would cause millions of Americans to lose their health care coverage and food assistance and, therefore, deepen long standing inequities by targeting health care, nutrition, and tax relief programs that millions of Black, Latino, indigenous, and low-income families rely on to survive,” the coalition wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. 

The letter is co-signed by National Urban League President Marc H. Morial National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguia, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, (NAACP), Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies President Dedrick Asante-Muhammmad,  PolicyLink President and CEO Dr. Michael McAfee, National Council of Negro Women President and CEO Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley, Coalition on Human Needs Executive Director Deborah Weinstein, and Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg.  

Some key concerns pinpointed by the coalition include: 

Deep Cuts to Basic Needs Programs: The House passed legislation would make the deepest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history, causing about 16 million low- and moderate-income people to lose health care coverage and become uninsured. The Senate Finance text makes even deeper cuts to Medicaid. The original proposed Senate SNAP provisions would end SNAP for 2.9 million Americans, including 1.1 million who live where jobs are scarce, 900 thousand seniors, 600 thousand parents, and 270 thousand veterans, homeless, and former foster youth.

Exclusionary Tax Credit Provisions: Changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would leave millions of children in families potentially unable to access the credit due to the new burdensome requirements.  The Senate Child Tax Credit (CTC) provision that could help lower income working families is, like the House provision, written in such a way that 17 million children will be left out of the increased benefits the bill provides. 

Civil Rights and AI Protections at Risk: The released text imposes a 10-year ban on state and local regulation of artificial intelligence, undermining protection against discrimination in credit, housing, employment, and voting, and tying critical broadband funding to acceptance of moratorium. 

The coalition urged the Senators to invest in programs that support families and communities, expand refundable tax credits for families, and preserve civil rights protections in the digital era. 

“The decisions made in this budget cycle will define the future of economic opportunity and social mobility in America,” the leaders wrote. “Cuts to essential programs, weakened basic needs programs, and underfunded public investments would have devastating consequences for families and communities across the country.” 

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The Fair Budget Coalition is an alliance of civil rights organizations, policy experts, and advocates dedicated to ensuring federal fiscal policy reflects the needs of all communities, especially those historically under resourced.