Federal Legislative Update
March 2006

March 31, 2006

News from Capitol Hill...

House Budget Up for Vote Next Week;
Your Call Can Defeat Painful Ed Cuts

The full House is expected to vote next week on a budget that would take away vital education and health services from schoolchildren, college students, and poor and working-class families in communities nationwide. The budget blueprint, passed by the House Budget Committee late Wednesday on a party line vote of 22-17, closely tracks President Bush’s budget proposal by cutting Education Department funding by $4.6 billion next year and a staggering $45.3 billion over the next five years.

Cuts of that magnitude would leave public schools reeling in the face of growing enrollments, more students with special needs, and the escalating costs of complying with No Child Left Behind.

But you, along with the efforts of pro-public education Democrats and two dozen moderate GOP lawmakers led by Mike Castle of Delaware, Nancy Johnson of Connecticut and Fred Upton of Michigan, can turn back the budget cuts.  You did it recently.

It was your voice, along with that of the many citizens who believe our federal government should pass a sensible budget that reflects our nation’s priorities, which turned the tide in the Senate budget debate.  In a letter to supporters (PDF, 1 page)  Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa said : "Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of phone calls and emails that flooded every Senate office, we created a tsunami that just could not be stopped." 

This is an election year, and lawmakers are paying close attention to their constituents.  Let them know how they vote next week will affect how you vote in November.

ACT NOW

• Don’t delay. Every contact counts.  Call your Representative at the toll-free number

1-800-459-1887

Urge your lawmaker to vote against the Budget Committee’s resolution and instead pass a budget that follows the lead of the Senate budget resolution, which restored $7 billion in cuts to education and health care programs.

• Spread the word.  Pass this e-mail along to family, friends and colleagues.

March 24, 2006

News from Capitol Hill...

ACT NOW for Responsible House Budget;
Senate Responds to Voters' Concerns

An avalanche of e-mails, phone calls, petitions and letters from you and other concerned citizens resulted in a significant victory in the U.S. Senate last week, when that body voted by an overwhelming bipartisan margin, 73-27, for a budget amendment that adds $7 billion to education and health programs that serve America’s children, working families, the elderly and the vulnerable.

The House Budget Committee is slated to mark up its version of a budget resolution next Wednesday, March 29, with a floor vote the week after. At issue are irresponsible cuts to education, child care, health care and food assistance. The cuts would exact the biggest price on students, working families, the elderly and the sick. 

Some House leaders have indicated their intent to pursue the billions of dollars in education and health care cutbacks proposed in President Bush's budget, while simultaneously pushing for tax cuts.

So we must not let up on the pressure and keep the momentum going. We must let our Representatives know we will remember how they vote when we go the polls in November.

TAKE ACTION

• Don't wait. Contact your Representative today and urge him or her to oppose cuts to children's programs, public education, Medicaid and student loans. Urge your Representative to follow the Senate's lead and report a budget with a comparable amount of funding.
• Write a letter to the editor of your hometown newspaper. The Letters to the Editor page is often the most read in a newspaper.

E-mail this page to family, friends and colleagues. Tell them how important it is to speak out for a budget with the right priorities.

March 10, 2006

News from Capitol Hill...

Congress Feeling Growing Pressure;
Voters Push for Responsible Budget

Amid indications that Congress is taking notice of the growing chorus of voices seeking a budget that puts America's children, working families, the elderly and the vulnerable first, Congress is showing signs that President Bush's budget proposal — with its irresponsible cuts to education, health care and nutrition assistance — is unlikely to be enacted in its present form.  But the budget marked up by the Senate Budget Committee yesterday — while an improvement over the President's proposal — leaves much cause for concern.

The Senate Budget Committee's proposal, which would cut billions from this year's bare-bones funding, is expected to come to the Senate floor next week for a vote. We must let our Senators know that we are watching and will vote accordingly in November.

So beginning today and through next week, we must register our concern with our Senators.  They need to hear from every one of us that providing billions of dollars in tax breaks for persons making more than $500,000 while slashing budgets for vital public services that serve children and poor and working families, and putting the country deeper into debt, are the wrong priorities.

We cannot afford to . . .

• Impose the largest cut to education funding in the 26-year history of the Education Department.
  
  
• Eliminate low-interest Perkins loans and GEAR UP, a program that provides tutoring, mentoring, college preparation and scholarships to middle school students, and freeze Pell Grants and College Work Study after cutting student financial aid by $12 billion this year.
  
  
• Jeopardize college opportunities for 1.1 million students served by programs that put these students on the road to college.

TAKE ACTION

Don't wait. Contact your Senators today and urge them to oppose cuts to children's programs, public education, Medicaid and student loans. E-mail this page to family and friends and tell them how important it is to speak out for a budget with the right priorities.

3/3/06

News from Capitol Hill...

Continued Pressure Is Vital To Stopping Budget Nightmare

Congress' choice over the next three weeks could not be clearer: it will pass a budget blueprint that serves and protects America's children and most vulnerable citizens, or it will put forward a plan that shortchanges students, seniors and poor working families already reeling from cuts to education, health care, nutrition assistance and student aid.

Because of your efforts and those of others who believe the federal budget should reflect our nation's values of compassion and commitment toward children, the less fortunate and families, Congress has begun to take notice. That's why, less than one week before Congress marks up the budget, we must not let up on our pressure. Each person must let his or her elected officials know that we expect a responsible budget that puts the public interest above special interests.

Imposing social service cuts on those who can least afford them while giving tax cuts to those who least need them represents a clear failure of leadership. It's the kind of failure that we should not forget on election day, for with responsibility comes accountability.

Some of the cuts being proposed include:

• Eliminating 42 education programs, everything from career and technical education and dropout prevention to Safe and Drug-Free Schools and school counseling;
• Shortchanging No Child Left Behind by $15 billion;
• Cutting over the next five years $36 billion from Medicare and $13.8 billion from Medicaid, programs that meet the basic health care needs of America 's elders, low-income and working families and their children, and individuals with disabilities.

TAKE ACTION

• Contact your Senators and Representative and urge them to oppose budget choices that are irresponsible and harmful. Let members of Congress know we will hold them accountable on election day.