The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the Big Brutal Bill this week and—like its House counterpart—it’s devastating for nutrition and health care programs for vulnerable communities.
The Senate proposal includes the largest cut to SNAP in history, as part of a budget package that guts basic needs programs.
The bill also contains the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, and will result in 16 million people losing their health insurance. A recent analysis of the House-passed bill found that because of the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and reduced staffing requirements at nursing homes, 51,000 people will die each year.
Additionally, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as many as 330 rural hospitals nationwide could close or reduce services as a result of this bill. And, new research shows that cuts to Medicaid along with SNAP will reduce jobs by 1.2 million nationwide, equivalent to about a 0.8% increase in the unemployment rate.
Cutting the heart out of basic needs programs including SNAP and Medicaid doesn’t save states or the federal government money—it denies care and creates bigger problems down the road, shifting the burden to service providers, local governments, and taxpayers. This will lead to higher costs and more strain on budgets—household and state budgets alike. And it will cost lives.
It’s not too late to change course. Now more than ever, it’s critical that the Senate act to protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs—not take them away
With 2019 now upon us, the 2020 Census is right around the corner. Join the Coalition on Human Needs and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to find out what you need to know as the year-long countdown to the next decennial census begins.
You’ll hear from experts on the importance of a complete and accurate count, how inadequate census outreach would be detrimental to our democracy, and an overview of the state of play around whether a citizenship question will be included. You’ll get a preview of what will happen between now and 2020, how to keep up the pressure on Congress and the Administration to ensure a fair Census, and what can be done to improve the count of certain populations such as young children that have been under-counted in the past.
The decennial census is one of the foundational building blocks of our democracy. The demographic information gleaned by the Census Bureau is used to make critical decisions both by the government and the private sector, such as the allocation of funding for social services and where non-profits and businesses decide to expand their operations. And the official count will be used for electoral redistricting and the reapportionment of Congress itself.
So much is at stake, and many important changes are in store for the 2020 Census. This time, there will be a greater emphasis on gathering Census form responses online. And in spite of a federal judge’s recent ruling, questions still remain about the inclusion of a citizenship question for the first time in decades, which could result in lower response rates from populations that have historically been undercounted to begin with.
Keep in mind: Slides and a full recording of the webinar will be available after the event, so even if you cannot attend, you should sign up to gain access to the materials.