Press Releases

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement after voting against the Republican budget legislation.

“Republicans made one fundamental promise to Americans – they would lower costs, and this big, ugly bill is the ultimate betrayal of that promise. It will make America more expensive by taking away health coverage, increasing hunger, and raising energy bills for millions of households. Lives and livelihoods will be put at risk because of the dangerous health care cuts in this legislation. The most outrageous and immoral part is that this is all so billionaires and large corporations can get yet another massive tax break.

“It is clear who Republicans stand with, and it is not working families. Republicans know full well the consequences of this bill, but at every opportunity to show courage and stand up for their constituents, they always fall in line behind Donald Trump.”

Impacts of Legislation

• Medicaid and ACA Coverage: Nearly 17 million Americans would lose Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplace health coverage, including nearly 330,000 Washingtonians.
• Medicare: Triggers over $500 billion in automatic Medicare cuts due to the huge cost of the bill.
• Abortion: Prohibits funding for plans that cover abortion services on ACA health marketplaces, including state-based exchanges like the Washington Health Benefits Exchange. The bill also prohibits Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding, further limiting access to health services like cancer screenings and annual physicals.
• Food Assistance: $300 billion would be cut from food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which covers over 880,000 Washingtonians.
• Energy Bills: Increases energy bills by more than $110 per year on average by repealing cost-saving clean energy tax credits.
• Child Tax Credit: 22 million children would be left out of receiving the full Child Tax Credit because of Republican income requirements, including over 400,000 kids in Washington, while wealthier families receive the full benefit.
• Cost: Estimated to add over $4 trillion to the national debt.

The bill now goes to President Trump to sign.