AFSCME’s Saunders: The Senate’s distorted priorities will leave working people footing the bill

WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after the Senate passed its version of the budget reconciliation bill, which would bring even deeper cuts to Medicaid while also slashing food assistance and public services nationwide:

“We are deeply disappointed by the Senate’s decision to pass a dangerous budget that tears health care away from over 20 million people, leaves millions without food assistance, and saddles working families with higher costs. From the caregivers who rely on Medicaid to keep their loved ones at home, to the hardworking parents struggling to afford groceries, to the nurses worried about their patients losing care, everyday people will foot the bill for a budget that hands more tax cuts to billionaires at the expense of our communities.

“For months, AFSCME members have urged Congress to reject this morally bankrupt budget and put working families ahead of debt-exploding tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Instead, a narrow majority in the United States Senate sold out their own constituents by gutting the health care, food assistance and public services our communities count on. Their distorted priorities will not only increase costs for working people but also ignite a fiscal catastrophe that will force states, counties, cities and towns to slash funding for local schools, hospitals, nursing homes, emergency response centers, colleges and other basic services or shut them down entirely.

“This budget bill is deeply unpopular for a reason: It is the largest transfer of wealth from working families to billionaires and big corporations in American history, and it will cost lives and jobs. But this fight is not yet over. As this budget bill moves back to the House for final passage, AFSCME members will be getting organized and fighting tooth and nail to protect our communities.”