In News Releases

For Immediate Release
May 23, 2017

Contact:
Karen Holcomb-Merrill
karenhm@mlpp.org
517-487-5436

Budget includes billions in appalling cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other vital programs

LANSING—The Michigan League for Public Policy issued the following statement on President Donald Trump’s budget proposal released today. This statement can be attributed to Michigan League for Public Policy President & CEO Gilda Z. Jacobs.

“Time and again, our work shows that millions of people in Michigan are already walking a precarious tightrope of economic security and our state and federal governments should be doing more to help them. Yet today, President Trump’s proposed budget cuts a two-trillion dollar hole over 10 years in the safety net designed to catch them if they fall. The president’s budget calls for $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid over ten years, on top of massive cuts proposed in the House-passed repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, severe changes to federal food assistance and significant reductions in services for people with disabilities and more.”

“The Trump budget is anti-poor people, not anti-poverty, as his proposals attack government support services that are working for Michigan families. At the same time, the President is proposing massive tax cuts largely for the wealthy and corporations that would likely cost several trillion dollars over the coming decade, if honestly measured. The budget relies on unrealistic economic assumptions and gimmicks to hide that the President’s tax cuts would dramatically increase deficits and debts.”

“Trump’s budget largely hurts the people who are struggling economically and have felt that their government hasn’t been listening to them or responsive to their needs. Medicaid and food assistance are just as vital in rural areas as they are in our cities, and these cuts will be felt just as badly by those residents.”

“As Congress prepares to advance its own budget plans, our delegation must not simply oppose the Trump budget. They must oppose any Congressional budget plan that follows the same architecture. They must oppose cuts to assistance that helps millions in Michigan achieve a basic living standard. They must oppose cuts to investments in long-run economic growth and basic public services. And, they must oppose massive tax cuts to the nation’s wealthiest.”

The League has been speaking out on potential federal budget cuts since President Trump’s “skinny budget” in March and has warned against changes to how states receive federal food assistance funding. The League also continues to advocate for the Healthy Michigan Plan and Medicaid expansion, and oppose the American Health Care Act and other potential funding changes to Medicaid.

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The Michigan League for Public Policy, www.mlpp.org, is a nonprofit policy institute focused on economic opportunity for all. It is the only state-level organization that addresses poverty in a comprehensive way.

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