John,

I wanted to make sure you saw Deborah’s email from yesterday.

We are at a pivotal moment in the appropriations process. While short-term funding agreements have avoided a federal government shutdown, it’s time for Congress to start passing full-year bipartisan appropriations bills that provide enough funding for programs that millions of people in the United States rely on.

Harmful poison pill riders that discriminate against the LGBTQIA community, eliminate climate protections, and attack immigrants are not what the majority of Americans want. This is why these riders would never pass as standalone pieces of legislation, and why right-wing extremists are attempting to attach them to must-pass government funding legislation right now. They may even try to use a rider to set up a fiscal commission that could fast-track cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP.  

Our federal budget is not a tool to be used in ideological culture wars. The American public deserves a budget that funds priorities we truly care about and that invest in our communities and our future.

Donate $5 today to fund our fight for a clean budget without any poison pill riders.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Vulnerable communities need policy solutions, not right-wing attacks.

Right now, Congress has only a few weeks to pass a FY2024 budget that doesn’t include any “poison pill riders”― policy changes to must-pass appropriation bills that are so divisive and unpopular that they would never pass through Congress as standalone legislation.

To date, House Republicans have added more than 560 poison pills to their draft FY2024 spending bills.¹ Many of these riders have nothing to do with funding the government, instead they attack the LGBTQIA community, get rid of climate change protections, propose extreme anti-immigrant policies, and require the Census Bureau to exclude people from state population counts depending on their immigrant status, unconstitutionally skewing voting representation and fair distribution of federal funds to states.

The American people want a federal government that puts their needs first, not ideological attacks that play politics with people’s lives.

Donate $5 today to fight back against poison pill riders in must-pass government funding legislation and ensure adequate funding to human needs programs.

In 2015, a poison pill rider would have prohibited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from updating national ozone pollution standards to prevent 4,300 deaths per year.² That same year, another rider would have gotten rid of a rule that prevented for-profit colleges from defrauding their students.³

Thankfully, due to public pressure those riders failed. Now we must use that same pressure once again to make sure that extreme, discriminatory, poison pill riders aren’t a part of any FY2024 funding bills.

Help us fight back against extremist poison pill riders by donating $5 today.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Topline Spending Deal Sets Stage for Showdown Over Poison Pill Riders
² Earmarking Away the Public Interest How Congressional Republicans Use Antiregulatory Appropriations Riders to Benefit Powerful Polluting Industries
³ Republicans Aim to Hamper Obama’s Policies With Spending Bills