ICAN - Press Release

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: November 8, 2005

For more information, contact:
Matt Russell, 515-277-5077 x. 15
MRussell@IowaCAN.org

Budget action in Washington contradicts Iowa values

Iowans call on Congress to reject budget cuts to programs that serve Iowa’s most vulnerable populations

Des Moines – Today, Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN) sent Iowa’s members of Congress 248 hand written letters and stories by Iowans. The messages from Iowans call on Iowa’s congressional delegation to protect programs like Food Stamps and Medicaid and not to pass tax cuts that primarily benefit wealthy Americans.

“At the same time that the US Congress is considering tax cuts for the wealthy, they are proposing service cuts to programs that provide a safety net for the poor. This does not reflect the values of Iowans,” said Betty Ahrens, co-executive director of ICAN. “In September, ICAN, the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church, and 14 other co-sponsoring organizations heard from nearly 300 people from 43 towns, and almost to a person these Iowans were telling us that cuts to programs that serve children, low income families, the elderly, and people living with disabilities are NOT the right response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. But that is exactly what the House of Representatives is trying to pass this week.”

Last week the Senate passed a measure that would cut nearly $40 billion in social programs and services. This week the House will try to pass $50 billion in cuts. The House cuts are not only larger but also more harmful to vulnerable populations than the cuts in the Senate’s bill. As an example, the Senate passed no cuts to Food Stamps. The House package includes $844 million in cuts to Food Stamps. This would result in nearly 300,000 people being entirely cut off from this assistance. Almost all of these nearly 300,000 people are in working families.

Nationally, nearly 11 million people lived in households that experienced hunger in 2004, and over 38 million lived in households that were “food insecure,” according to the study “Household Food Security in the United States, 2004” released last month by the Economic Research Service of the USDA. Between 2003 and 2004, the number of people facing hunger or food insecurity rose by almost two million; marking the fifth straight year this number has risen and the biggest increase in four years.

With regard to Medicaid, the House bill would cut $ 9.4 billion from the program by directly increasing costs for people who qualify for Medicaid because they are among our nation’s poorest, sickest, and most vulnerable people. Changes just affecting children include the following. Under the House bill, Medicaid would:

For the first time, charge premiums for children to participate in Medicaid and require co-payments for children’s doctor visits, hospital stays, lab work, and other health care services that are not considered preventive care.
Impose new co-payments for prescription drugs for children.
Restrict the health care services available to children with incomes just above the poverty line.

The House Budget Reconciliation bill would make deep cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps, child care, and student aid and set the stage for $70 billion in tax cuts. This bill also includes additional giveaways to special interests like opening up the Artic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling.

“This week in Washington, law makers are moving forward with the plan hatched last spring to cut billions of dollars from programs that serve our country’s most vulnerable while at the same time cutting $70 billion dollars in taxes for our country’s wealthiest,” said Ahrens. “These programs are working to lift people out of poverty and to keep people from sliding deeper into poverty. They provide a quality of life for the elderly, people with a disability, dependent children, people displaced by natural disasters, those out of work because of economic downturns, and others who need help from their fellow Americans. It’s really an outrage that anyone would use Hurricane Katrina as an excuse to cut programs that are serving the very people most affected by the disaster. The House will decide this week if the poorest, sickest, youngest and oldest Americans in all 50 states should pay for rebuilding after Katrina while America’s wealthy get a $70 billion tax cut. This plan is wrong, and our congressional delegation in Washington, DC needs to know that Iowans do not agree with it.”

A copy of the report that includes comments from 35 people who attended the public meetings can be found here.

# # #

Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities

Emergency Campaign For America’s Future presents “First Things First” agenda for Congress

ACTION ALERTS!

I want to sign the petition to tell Congress to stop giving handouts to oil companies and start putting consumers first!

RESOURCES

Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently released reports

FACT SHEET

Congress Must Not Repeal The Estate Tax

SLIDESHOW: SOCIAL SECURITY IS NOT BROKE

The Social Security “Crisis” Explained in Plain English -- Midwest Academy, January 2005. Click here for the slide show.

FAIR TAXES FOR ALL CAMPAIGN

For more information on the Fair Taxes for All campaign, click here.

REPORTS

BULLSEYE ON THE POOR & MIDDLE CLASS

ICAN and partners have released a report telling Iowans how capital gains and dividend tax cuts exacerbate Iowa's growing income disparity. In total, the top five percent of Iowa earners would reap 55 percent of all benefits to Iowa households.

Setting the Right Priorities: Why Iowa Can't Afford Repeal or Drastic Reduction of the Federal Estate Tax

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities works at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Visit CBPP’s archive of recent policy papers by clicking here.