May 10, 2025
Dear Friends,
Throughout my time in public service, I’ve always made it my mission to be a voice for the working people of our Capital Region. Too often, the priorities of everyday Americans are drowned out in the halls of Congress, where billionaires and large corporations use their lobbying power to push the needs of working families to the sidelines.
That’s why at the beginning of this Congress, I asked my Democratic colleagues to support my appointment to the House Budget Committee — a critical battleground in the fight to protect our communities from devastating cuts to essential services. I’ve long believed that a budget is more than just numbers on a spreadsheet — it’s a statement of our priorities and a test of our values. By that measure, the latest budget proposals from Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress fail our nation miserably.
The GOP’s top legislative priority this Congress isn’t lowering costs for working families, growing American jobs, or bolstering our nation’s infrastructure. Instead, they’re pushing a $4.5 trillion tax break for billionaires and corporations that ship jobs overseas. To pay for this reckless giveaway to the wealthiest Americans, Republicans are proposing at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to essential programs — including health care services for those who need them most. And while President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson claim these cuts won’t affect Medicare or Medicaid, the math tells a different story.
The GOP budget instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee to slash at least $880 billion in spending. With Medicare and Medicaid accounting for more than 97 percent of the spending overseen by the committee, it’s simply impossible to meet that target without thoroughly gutting these programs. Medicaid and the related Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — which together cover more than 80 million working-class Americans, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities — would bear the brunt of these cuts. Make no mistake: this plan would decimate essential health care for families across the nation.
This week, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed our worst fears: the Republican budget would lead to catastrophic benefit cuts and strip millions of Americans of their health care coverage. Despite GOP claims that their plan targets only “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the CBO’s analysis reveals the truth — 100 percent of the projected “savings” would come from cutting provider payments, limiting benefits, and kicking people off coverage. And as states struggle to make up massive budget shortfalls left by reduced federal aid, many will be forced to raise taxes and slash funding for schools, roads, and other essential services — further driving up the cost of living for American families.
President Trump’s recent budget proposal continues the onslaught against working families with a wide array of reckless cuts that weaken public health and undermine our future. Among many other damaging provisions, the proposal would:
- Slash $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health — the largest funder of cancer research in the United States.
- Cut $4.7 billion from the Department of Energy by eliminating programs focused on renewable energy and climate change.
- Halve the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by wiping out funding for chronic disease prevention and public health preparedness.
- Slash $650 million from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which currently helps more than 200 organizations in New York State alone to provide meals and shelter to those in need.
- Completely eliminate the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps over 1 million New Yorkers afford their utility bills every year.
These are not just numbers on a page — they are deliberate choices with real-world consequences. And the only people who stand to gain from these devastating cuts are the billionaire donors and multinational corporations who will rake in trillions in tax breaks. If a budget truly reflects our values and our vision for the future, the Republican plan is a damning statement of backward priorities — one that asks working families to shoulder the burden of giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.
As the budget reconciliation process moves forward, my Democratic colleagues and I will keep fighting to protect our communities and stop these cruel, callous cuts to the programs that Capital Region families rely on every day — because working families deserve a budget that puts working people first.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates, announcements, and recommendations from governments and agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- As of Wednesday, May 7th, all U.S. travelers must be REAL ID-compliant in order to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities.
- This updated policy means that all adult travelers must present a valid REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or another acceptable form of identification, including a passport or a New York State Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL), in order to board commercial aircraft.
- If your New York State driver’s license or ID does not have a star or a flag on it, then you do not have a REAL ID-compliant document.
- Passengers who present a state-issued identification that is not REAL ID-compliant at TSA checkpoints and who do not have another acceptable alternative form of ID will be notified of their non-compliance and may be directed to a separate area to receive additional screening or prohibited from boarding the flight altogether.
- Click HERE to view information from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) about how to obtain a REAL ID or an Enhanced Driver’s License.
- You can also click HERE to get answers to frequently asked questions about REAL ID implementation.
