The US Congress, controlled by Republicans, is preparing to pass a federal budget bill that will do great harm to Vermont. The House of Representatives already passed the bill — by one vote. Every Democrat voted against it. The Senate will vote soon. Our local and state Republican elected leaders — Rob North, Steve Heffernan, and Governor Scott — need to use their influence and urge their Republican allies in Washington, DC to vote no on the Senate Budget Reconciliation bill. If the proposed bill passes, it will dramatically change life as we know it.

The big bill includes:

• tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk

• huge cuts to food assistance programs, in part by shifting responsibility for these programs to states already hammered by budget cuts. One out of every four veterans receives supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP)

• equally huge cuts to rural health care and to Medicaid. Vermont’s rural hospitals will be further threatened

• a provision that would severely restrict federal courts’ authority to hold government officials in contempt if they violate judicial orders. Currently, numerous judicial orders are being ignored by the Trump Administration. There will be no recourse to hold the executive branch accountable. (See here for more on this: tinyurl.com/yc24bs84).

• reduced funding for public education by approximately $349 billion over the coming decade, reducing resources for primary and secondary schools in Vermont

• tax breaks for companies that produce silencers for firearms

• an increase of $151.3 billion for mass deportations

• your tax dollars going to subsidize big tech and its determination to push artificial intelligence right down to primary schools, where we might imagine students giving up entirely on reading, math, and fundamental skills. The bill will establish a 10-year moratorium that will prevent state and local laws and regulations regulating artificial intelligence models and systems, except for any law or regulation that helps promote AI adoption.

• dramatic cuts in programs that have helped address climate change, with a pivot to provide subsidies and support for increased production of oil, gas and coal, guaranteeing a rapid acceleration to runaway climate disruption

• huge cuts in FEMA and disaster assistance funds despite predictions of more storms, droughts, and floods

• an increase in the federal debt ceiling by 5 trillion dollars, leading to explosive deficits and threatening the future value of our dollars. One economist predicts that if passed, the USA may eventually start to look like Argentina as we pay higher interest rates to finance our debt to other creditors, making inflation potentially catastrophic in the future.

• threats to Medicare despite President Trump’s promises to the contrary. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate budget bill would increase the federal deficit by over two trillion dollars over 10 years, triggering automatic cuts to Medicare absent congressional action.

• dramatic increases in military spending even though the United States already spends more on the military than the next nine countries combined.

The bill is over 1,000 pages long and has lots of hidden threats in addition to those mentioned here. If you care about your children, our immigrant workforce and neighbors, access to healthcare, our local schools, and preservation of our democracy, it is time to push very hard on our local Republican elected officials who have access to those in Washington who are preparing to do great damage to our brave little state.

We need all of our Vermont Republican elected officials to stand up right now to say no to any budget bill that helps the billionaires, Big Oil, and Big Tech while abandoning pretty much everyone else.

E mail or call Steve Heffernan at: [email protected] or (802) 828-2228.

E mail or call Rob North at: [email protected] or (802) 828-2228.

Call Governor Scott and urge him to use his political clout in Washington, DC (802) 828-3333.

Urge them to call their Republican allies in the Republican Party and the White House. This bill must not go forward as drafted.

Betsy Taylor

New Haven