U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they serve, we urge you to VOTE NO on H.R. 5371, the continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through January 30. Votes on this issue may be included in NEA’s report card for the 119th Congress.
For weeks, millions of children, workers, and families have gone without the support they depend on and been forced to make impossible choices just to get by—a crisis created by the Republican majority, who knew they would suffer during a government shutdown and put politics over people. The majority used families as pawns to further partisan priorities that threaten our democracy.
Faced with expiring tax breaks for an ultra-rich sliver of the population and expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that make health care affordable for 22 million everyday Americans, the majority chose to renew the tax breaks—and allow the subsidies to expire. That choice propelled the government shutdown that has caused so much carnage, and will resonate even more strongly in 2026, when the life and death consequences become real for too many Americans.
Right now, people who buy health insurance through the ACA marketplace are choosing their plans for next year. They are seeing massive and unaffordable increases in premiums—at least 30 percent and in some cases, double or triple what they are now. The overwhelming majority of Americans—78 percent, according to the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll—wants Congress to renew the ACA subsidies that have made health insurance affordable for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and others whose employers don’t offer or help pay for coverage.
We appreciate that the CR would reopen the government and provide back pay—to federal workers, contractors, and military-connected educators in schools administered by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). We also appreciate that the bill includes a minibus comprising the 2026 Agriculture, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch appropriations bills.
But these gains, while considerable, do not outweigh the harm that has been done. Nor do they defuse the ticking time bomb before us.
All across America, people have stood up and participated in peaceful protests. Now is the time for Congress to choose people over politics, to step up and be responsible. Every family—regardless of race, background, or ZIP code—deserves reliable access to affordable health care.
Please oppose H.R. 5371 and extend the ACA subsidies NOW.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Johnson Trinca
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
