ACTION ALERT: Tell The Senate to Prioritize Social Safety in Budget Reconciliation

Similar to the House-passed bill, the United States Senate is seeking over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – terminating health insurance for 16 million people. The proposal would also radically alter the structure of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by requiring states to pay a portion of food benefit costs for the first time. More than 11 million people, including more than 4 million children and more than half a million adults who are over 65 or have a disability, live in households that would be at risk of losing their food assistance under new work reporting requirements alone.

As United Methodists, “we decry the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the concentration of wealth in the hands of ever smaller percentages of the global population. We lament that too many of the world’s people lack the basic resources necessary for survival and pledge ourselves to work toward the eradication of the roots and effects of poverty"… The United Methodist Social Principles, Economic Community, Economic Challenges, B., Poverty and Income Inequality

The impact of the budget reconciliation package continues to implicate priorities across multiple advocacy portfolios. Also included is a provision to remove regulation of silencers under the National Firearms Act (NFA), which have been heavily regulated for almost 100 years because of the risk they pose to public safety. This would allow for the proliferation of these weapons into our communities and the funneling of over $1.5 billion in revenue over the next decade straight to the pockets of gun manufacturers.

Act now to let your Senator know that grace must continue to be prioritized over greed throughout the federal budgeting process.