In AZ-03, 355,059 people rely on Medicaid for healthcare
WASHINGTON – Early this morning, Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) voted no on Republicans' dangerous Republican budget that cuts essential benefits including Medicaid and SNAP.
WATCH Ansari speak following the bill’s party-line passage.
“House Republicans just pushed through a budget that betrays the American people,” said Rep. Ansari. “Their bill makes draconian cuts of billions of dollars to vital programs including Medicaid and SNAP and repeals historic clean energy investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act, increasing energy costs for everyday Americans. And worse, it’s all going to give trillions in tax cuts to billionaires.”
The bill includes cuts to:
- Medicaid
- Cuts $736 billion from Medicaid and leaves 7.6 million people without health insurance
- In AZ-03, 355,059 people rely on Medicaid for their health care. This includes 178,263 children under the age of 19 and 22,000 seniors over 65 in AZ-03
- SNAP
- 18.3 million children could lose access to free school meals
- 3 million people across America will lose SNAP benefits entirely in an average month
- $230 billion in cuts threatening nutrition assistance during a period of fast-rising food prices
- 126,000 people in AZ-03 would lose access to SNAP benefits
- Inflation Reduction Act provisions and environmental rollbacks
- Threatens 13.5 million acres of public lands
- Ends the Electric Vehicle tax credit program
- Repeals Clean Energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act by cuts of at least $1 billion in investments
- Expands oil and gas leasing
- Repeals clean vehicle standards finalized by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Energy Costs
- Forces Americans to pay the oil and gas industry an additional $339 billion for gasoline and $75 billion for electricity by 2035
- Raise gasoline prices by 25 cents to 37 cents per gallon by 2035 as demand for oil increases due to the termination of federal electric vehicle affordability programs, fuel economy standards, and tailpipe emission standards
- Planned Parenthood
- Blocks Medicaid from paying for services of any kind at nonprofits that are primarily engaged in family planning or reproductive health and provide abortions
- Education
- 133,003 students in AZ-03 would lose their Pell Grant funding and would be unable to afford education
- Increase monthly student loan payments by nearly $200 and push students onto the predatory private loan market
- Undermine our public schools by creating a tax credit for individuals and corporations who contribute towards private school voucher programs
- Measures that could decrease federal support for K–12 education
- In Arizona, previous budget constraints have already threatened to block over $1 billion in school funding, leading to larger class sizes and potential teacher layoffs
- Child Tax Credit
- Pushes millions of Americans off the Child Tax Credit by implementing additional requirements for parents
- Taxes
- Gives $1.1 Trillion in tax giveaways to people making more than $500,000 a year
- Makes permanent 2017 Trump tax cuts to corporations
- Gun Control
- Eliminates a customer tax on firearm silencers, removing a crucial oversight step and deregulating part of the process that tracks and monitors sales
“President Trump promised to lower costs for Americans and this budget does the complete opposite,” continued Ansari. “Instead his budget targets everyday Americans and benefits Trump’s billionaire friends.”
During the Rules Committee hearing, more than 100 Democrats, including Representative Ansari, offered more than 500 amendments – delaying the bill for more than 20 hours.
Her amendment would stop Members of Congress from trading stocks and profiting off of insider information they become privy to on Capitol Hill. Republicans failed to adopt it.
Watch Ansari speak on her amendment HERE.
Follow @RepYassAnsari on all social media platforms and visit Ansari.House.gov to learn more.
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