Feinstein: GOP Budget "Major Step Backward for the Country'
Press Release
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today announced she will oppose the Republican budget resolution expected to come before the Senate this week.
"Candidly, this is one of the worst budgets I've seen in my 22 years in the Senate," Senator Feinstein said. "It represents a major step backward for the country and needs significant changes.
"I strongly believe the federal government should support equal opportunity and upward mobility. However, this budget would require substantial cuts for the very people who depend the most on federal programs. Whether it's job training or health care, housing assistance or a solid education, we must provide tools to help families pull themselves out of poverty or remain in the middle class."
Among the many harmful effects on the country, the Republican budget would:
Prevent 35,000 low-income children from enrolling in Head Start;
Cut federal funding for public schools that serve more than 1.9 million low-income students;
Increase the cost of college for more than 8 million low-income students;
Eliminate health coverage through Medicaid for 14 million low-income Americans;
Prevent 2.2 million Americans from accessing job training services; and
Raise taxes for 16 million working families with children by an average of $900, through cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, while eliminating taxes for the wealthiest, such as the estate tax, the tax applied to estates of more than $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple (affecting only 5,400 estates per year).
"The heartbreaking unrest we're seeing spread across the country is rooted in economic hopelessness, and I believe Congress needs to do more to address it," Senator Feinstein said. "But instead of helping working-class families, Congress will soon debate a budget that could gut some of the most important federal programs like Medicaid, Head Start, Pell Grants, job training and tax credits for working families.
"Congress can't solve all of the country's problems, but it can and should provide a helping hand to families who are following the rules and trying to do better. Republicans should go back to the drawing board, set aside government handouts for the rich and come up with a budget that's good for all Americans."
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