Rep. George Whitesides Opposes Extreme Budget, Cites Direct Harm to Constituents

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. George Whitesides voted against the House Republican budget proposal that slashes Medicaid, SNAP, and other programs that hundreds of thousands of his constituents rely on:

"I came to Washington to fight for families in the Santa Clarita Valley, the Antelope Valley, and the Northern San Fernando Valley, and I'm deeply disappointed by the passage of this reckless, harmful, and partisan budget bill in the House.

The American people sent us to Congress with a mandate - lower costs and create more good-paying jobs. And I have consistently said that I will work with anyone, regardless of party, to deliver those results for my constituents.

But the circus of the past 24 hours is shameful - passing a hugely consequential, damaging bill in the dead of night. This is not the kind of governing that my district or any American deserves. Ripping away health care, food assistance, housing affordability programs, breakfast and lunch for the neediest children, is not who we are as a nation.

In my district, the newly-passed budget puts at risk more than 200,000 Medicaid recipients, 70,000 SNAP recipients, and our local hospitals, like Antelope Valley Hospital, Palmdale Regional Hospital, and Henry Mayo Hospital. It does all this by exploding the national deficit by a historic amount - $3.8 trillion - while forcing working families to shoulder the burden.

I'm going to keep fighting for my district - it's why I introduced two amendments to the budget that would cut taxes locally, bring down costs, and create jobs in Southern California - and for everyone who will now worry about where to access health care, food, and affordable education."

Rep. Whitesides proposed two amendmentsduring the budget process, and testified in front of the House Rules Committee on Wednesday in support of his amendments.

The budget, written by Republican House leadership without any bipartisan input, will harm working families in CA-27 and across the country. The final proposal, passed this morning, threatens:

• 14 million Americans who will be at risk of losing their health care coverage as a result of the largest Medicaid cut in history - including 1.7 million veterans.
• 40 million low-income individuals and families, who will lose essential food assistance through drastic cuts to the SNAP program.
• 21 million children from low-income families who rely on summer food assistance programs to feed themselves from June through August.
• 26 million Americans who utilize Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) services for the homeless, elderly, and those needing job training and life skills.
• 200,000 families who utilize federal rental assistance, increasing the risk of homelessness.
• 346,553 students in California who attend Title I schools, designed to support low-income families, whose funding is now at risk.
• Millions of women whose insurance plans cover abortion care, who would no longer be able to enroll in those plans through the ACA marketplace.
• TANF's CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) program, which provides assistance and supportive services to eligible families with children to help families achieve self-sufficiency.
• 200,000 individuals and families in public housing units that require public housing capital funds to undergo necessary repairs.
• Clean energy investments, including hydrogen hubs, which are projected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in California and bring down energy costs.
• Families and children who rely on Head Start, or early childhood education programs.
• Families in rural and low income areas who rely on affordable housing and community development programs, which will now be slashed thanks to this budget.
• Families and children with disabilities, who rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

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