Congresswoman Matsui Votes Against Republican "Work Harder for Less Budget
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
CONTACT: JONELLE TRIMMER
(202) 225-7163
Congresswoman Matsui Votes Against Republican "Work Harder for Less Budget
Releases new data on the Republican budget's impact on Californians
Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-06) voted against the Republican "Work Harder for Less" budget, and released new data on the devastating impacts this budget could have on Californians if enacted.
"American families dream of buying a house, sending their children to college, and when the time is right settling down to a secure and dignified retirement. Unfortunately, House Republicans have once again proposed a budget that would do the opposite for millions of hard-working families. The budget would raise costs for seniors by turning Medicare into a voucher program, it repeals the Affordable Care Act, and savages vital investments in education, infrastructure and innovation," said Congresswoman Matsui. "This is the wrong direction for our country, and that is why I voted against the Republican budget."
Recent data from the White House clearly illustrates the impact this Republican budget would have on Californian seniors, students, workers, and middle class families if it were to become law.
Seniors
The GOP budget significantly undermines the economic and health security of seniors here in California:
- For a fifth consecutive year, Republicans' plan would end the Medicare guarantee and raise health care costs for seniors;
- Their plan also jeopardizes nursing home care for tens of thousands of California's seniors by slashing Medicaid funding for California by $119.2 billion over the next 10 years due to the GOP block grant proposal;
- 417,500 Californian seniors and people with disabilities in Medicare would pay more for prescription drugs, because the Republican budget repeals the Affordable Care Act, thereby reopening the Medicare Part D donut hole.
Education
The House Republican budget makes severe cuts in elementary and secondary education and early learning programs. When compared with the budget proposed by President Obama, the Republican budget could result in:
- 4,510 fewer children in Head Start
- $147.6 million less funding for disadvantaged students, an amount that is enough to fund about 500 schools, 2,030 teacher and aide jobs, and 293,000 students.
- $35.3 million less funding in California to provide educational opportunities for students with disabilities.
The House Republican budget also makes college less affordable for millions of students who rely on Pell Grants, federal student loans, and higher education tax credits. The reductions to Pell Grants in the Republican budget would reduce financial aid for the 1,027,000 California students who rely on Pell Grants to afford college.
Jobs andamp; Hard-Working Families
Under this budget, middle class families will see higher taxes and millions will see fewer jobs:
- The GOP budget will cause the loss of 2.9 million jobs in 2017 alone.
- Republicans would raise taxes on the typical middle class family by $2,000 to pay for a more than $200,000 tax break for millionaires.
- At a time when families are living paycheck to paycheck, the GOP budget would stall our nation's recovery by cutting economic growth by almost 2.5 percent in 2017.
"We need a better budget plan to build a strong and prosperous America. House Democrats have put forward a budget that rewards hard-working Americans through new tax credits and deductions, makes college more affordable, invests in education, fuels research and innovation, and creates good-paying jobs building and modernizing our nation's infrastructure. These are the types of investments we should be making to move America forward," added Matsui.
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