Davids Opposes Partisan Budget Bill Favoring Billionaires Over Hard Working Kansans

Today, Representative Sharice Davids voted against a reckless budget plan that attacks the middle class and would slash essential investments that help families afford health care, put food on the table, and keep their kids in school. Meanwhile, it hands massive tax giveaways to big corporations and the ultra-wealthy — while making hard working Kansans pay more.

"This partisan budget is nothing more than a giveaway to billionaires and big corporations at the expense of hard working Kansans,” said Davids. “It guts Medicaid, spikes health care costs, and makes groceries more expensive for families — all while adding trillions to the national debt. Kansans deserve a budget, agreed upon by both Republicans and Democrats, that lowers their costs and invests in our economy, not one that forces them to pay more so the ultra-wealthy can get another handout."

Today’s partisan budget pushed by U.S. House Republicans is the first step in their plan to raise health care costs, gut Medicaid, and cut vital nutrition programs — all while delivering massive tax giveaways to billionaires and big corporations. She urged Republicans to instead work across the aisle to lower costs, protect essential programs, and strengthen the economy for hard working Kansans, rather than pushing a partisan plan that increases the deficit and benefits only the wealthiest 0.1 percent.

Why Davids voted NO on the partisan budget plan:

Raising Health Care Costs for Kansans: The partisan budget plan puts health care out of reach for thousands of Kansans by gutting Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA):

• Medicaid Cuts: Over 61,000 Kansans in KS-03, including more than 41,000 children and 11,000 seniors, are at risk of losing coverage. 
  • Statewide, 14.4 percent of Kansans stand to lose coverage. This is unpopular.
• ACA Hikes: 44,000 Kansans who rely on the ACA would see their premiums rise by an average of $780 per year. A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year could see their premiums triple, increasing by nearly $15,000 annually.

Making Groceries More Expensive for Kansans: Despite high grocery prices — egg prices are up 53 percent — this budget slashes at least $230 billion from emergency food assistance programs, making groceries unaffordable and endangering access to healthy meals for millions, including:

• 17,000 people in Kansas’ Third District — working parents, seniors, and veterans — who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to put food on the table.
• The top 0.1 percent will receive an average $314,000 tax cut per year while corporations keep outsourcing jobs and raising prices.
• This reckless plan adds $4 trillion to the national debt and increases the deficit by $1.6 trillion — piling costs onto future generations.

Giving Handouts to the Ultra-Wealthy: While forcing working families to pay more, this budget hands $4.5 trillion in tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations:

• The top 0.1 percent will receive an average $314,000 tax cut per year while corporations keep outsourcing jobs and raising prices.
• This reckless plan adds $4 trillion to the national debt and increases the deficit by $1.6 trillion — piling costs onto future generations.

The information above was compiled using data from the U.S. House Committees on the Budget (here and here) and Energy & Commerce.