“Congress ended an ignominious year last night by passing a Continuing Resolution that leaves families that rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and hardworking young immigrants in limbo and at risk.
To add insult to injury, this morning President Trump signed his tax bill into law; this windfall for the wealthy will plunge the government deeper into debt, making it impossible to adequately fund health, education, food, housing, disaster relief and other programs that are essential for women and families to thrive. To slash taxes for the wealthiest individuals and most profitable corporations, the tax bill takes health coverage away from 13 million people and will put Medicaid and other essential programs on the chopping block. It includes a sham paid leave proposal that makes employers that provide as little as two weeks of leave at partial pay eligible for an end-of-the-year tax credit. This corporate giveaway has little chance of helping the millions of families that are struggling without paid leave and it won’t incentivize permanent change, because the paid leave tax credit lasts for just two years. The tax plan’s child care changes are paltry for families with lower incomes and fall far short of what working families need.
Instead of attending to the nation’s most pressing business this year, congressional leaders spent months on partisan efforts to take away our health care and defund Planned Parenthood. The continuing resolution Congress passed last night, which funds the government only through January 19, utterly fails to meet the needs of women, children and families. It extends CHIP only through the end of March, leaving millions of families terrified about whether their children will get urgent and potentially life-saving care after that and creating unnecessary uncertainty for the states that administer the program.
The failure to pass the DREAM Act by the end of the year, or in the Continuing Resolution, perpetuates the damage from President Trump’s mean-spirited decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, unnecessarily leaving young immigrants who contribute greatly to our economy and our country at risk. It is counterproductive and heartless.
Our lawmakers had all the wrong priorities this year. The resistance will only intensify in 2018 as a result.”
