ICYMI: House Republicans voted to cut Social Security access, nutrition assistance programs for women and children, and more during shutdown fight

Wisconsin Republicans supported massive cuts that would harm Wisconsin families, workers, and seniors as they pushed toward a government shutdown last week

October 3, 2023

MADISON, Wis. – Although a government shutdown was averted, you may have missed that every Republican member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation voted for an extreme plan on Friday that would have forced devastating cuts to programs including nutrition assistance, low income heating assistance, and access to health care. 

While the bill failed to pass, Wisconsin’s congressional Republicans made it clear they are willing to stand by drastic cuts that hurt seniors, workers, and children in our state. Here are some of the major cuts that they voted to support on Friday:

• Take food away from children, families, and seniors: House Republicans voted to slash nutrition assistance for women, infants, and children by 30 percent and remove Meals on Wheels access for more than 1 million seniors.

• Threaten access to Social Security: The plan would’ve closed field offices and reduced staff, increasing wait times for applications and claim processing for Americans applying for disability benefits.

• Decimate heating assistance programs as temperatures drop: As winter approaches, this plan would have cut funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by nearly 74 percent, threatening the ability of 5 million low-income households to afford heat.

• Reduce health care in rural and underserved communities: By cutting funding from Community Health Centers, more than 2 million Americans would lose access to care, particularly in rural communities. 

“Republicans like Congressman Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden would rather rip nutrition assistance away from women and children than ask big corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share – that’s not the representation Wisconsinites expect,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Thankfully a government shutdown was avoided, but it’s time for Republicans in Congress to get serious about supporting working families and seniors. As long-term funding continues to be negotiated, it’s time for them to abandon extreme policies like the ones they voted for last week.”


New York Times: Right Wing Tanks Stopgap Bill in House, Pushing Government Toward a Shutdown

[. . .]

The measure put to a vote on Friday would keep the government open for 30 days and during that period impose drastic cuts — in many cases as much as 29 percent — to government programs, except for funding for veterans, homeland security and disaster response. It did not include any military or humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and it directed the homeland security secretary to resume “all activities related to the construction of the border wall” at the southern border that were in place under former President Donald J. Trump.

Democrats said the cuts to social programs included in the stopgap were so severe that they would amount to a “government shutdown in and of itself,” said Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the senior Democrat on the Rules Committee. “It guts the heart and soul of our safety net.”

Mr. McCarthy’s allies defended the strategy of putting the doomed bill to a vote as a way to show the public that he tried to keep the government open but was foiled by a handful of his far-right members.

But the move also forced some of his most politically endangered members to go on the record supporting sharp cuts to popular social programs, and almost immediately after the vote on Friday, House Democrats’ campaign arm criticized them for supporting “a hyperpartisan continuing resolution that does absolutely nothing to avert a government shutdown.”

Representative Mike Lawler of New York, who is facing one of the toughest re-election races in the country, vented frustration at the 21 hard-liners who tanked the bill.

“The bottom line is there’s going to be a C.R. that gets passed,” Mr. Lawler said, using the shorthand for the continuing resolution. “And these folks, frankly, for the things that they advocate for and want — they’re going to be worse off as a result because they didn’t want to work as a conference.”

[. . .]

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Rep. Bryan Steil’s vote to keep gas prices high featured in new Opportunity Wisconsin TV ad

WATCH: “Bryan Steil had a chance to vote to save us money, and he didn’t, he went with the oil companies. We’re the ones who are paying the price.”

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

RACINE, Wis. – Wisconsinites are speaking out against Congressman Bryan Steil’s vote to keep gas prices high in a new TV ad on the air this week from Opportunity Wisconsin.

While Wisconsinites are struggling with rising costs, Rep. Steil’s votes in Congress have protected oil and gas companies instead of working families. In addition to supporting massive tax breaks for these companies, Steil even voted for a bill that would let oil and gas companies continue price gouging consumers.

The ad features Michael and Jerre, from Delavan, Wisconsin, discussing the impact of these votes on their daily lives. According to Michael, “Gas prices are a huge issue for us. Before we drive to see our kids, before we go to town for groceries, it adds up.” Jerre adds, “Bryan Steil had a chance to vote to save us money, and he didn’t, he went with the oil companies. We’re the ones who are paying the price.”

“Wisconsinites like Michael and Jerre expect Congressman Bryan Steil to fight for them in Congress. Instead, they’ve watched him continually vote to support corporations and those at the top, while leaving working families and seniors behind,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Whether it’s voting to keep gas prices high or cutting access  to Social Security and Medicare, Congressman Steil has made his priorities clear.”

This new ad is part of a previously announced seven-figure media buy from Opportunity Wisconsin and began airing this week in the Milwaukee market. Previous Opportunity Wisconsin ads in the First Congressional District have held Rep. Steil accountable for his dangerous record on Social Security and Medicare, and support for tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy.

Full Transcript:

Michael: Gas prices are a huge issue for us. Before we drive to see our kids, before we go to town for groceries, it adds up. 

Jerre: We all know the oil companies are ripping us off, but Bryan Steil voted to allow gas and oil companies to keep price gouging. 

Michael: And he just voted to give oil companies a huge tax break. 

Jerre: Bryan Steil had a chance to vote to save us money, and he didn’t, he went with the oil companies. We’re the ones who are paying the price.

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ICYMI: “Bending to right, McCarthy pushes safety net cuts in shutdown battle”

“With days left before the government shuts down, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has embraced steep reductions to the U.S. safety net in an attempt to appease far-right Republican demands for lower spending.”

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

MADISON, Wis. – In case you missed it, the Washington Post reports that House Republicans are increasingly embracing drastic spending cuts that will hurt Wisconsin families, seniors, and children. 

In addition to targeting the Social Security and Medicare administration, the latest proposals would also make dramatic cuts to nutrition assistance programs for women and young children and slash heating assistance for lower-income families as we approach the winter. Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation, including Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany have refused to speak out against these devastating proposals. 

“House Republicans would rather jeopardize nutrition assistance for Wisconsin children than ask corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “It’s time for Congressmen Steil, Van Orden, and Tiffany to stand up to Speaker McCarthy and members of their party who are willing to shut down the government if these extreme demands aren’t met.”


Washington Post: Bending to right, McCarthy pushes safety net cuts in shutdown battle

Cutting housing subsidies for the poor by 33 percent as soaring rents drive a national affordability crisis. Forcing more than 1 million women and children onto the waitlist of a nutritional assistance program for poor mothers with young children. Reducing federal spending on home heating assistance for low-income families by more than 70 percent with energy prices high heading into the winter months.

With days left before the government shuts down, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has embraced steep reductions to the U.S. safety net in an attempt to appease far-right Republican demands for lower spending. If McCarthy can win over conservatives and pass legislation funding the government, Republicans hope to have greater leverage in negotiations with the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House.

But far-right votes have remained elusive, leading McCarthy to propose ever larger and still evolving spending cuts. “The level of reductions in the existing House resolution set us back significantly on issues that government should be funding for the benefit of this country,” said G. William Hoagland, senior vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.

“Their proposals were already almost an impossibility before. But if they go even further, as they are now discussing, I don’t see how we can address many of the major issues the nation is trying to address,” Hoagland added. The estimated cuts to housing, nutrition assistance and home heating aid come from the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank.

[. . .]

In June, President Biden and McCarthy agreed to avert a debt limit crisis with a deal that kept government funding at nearly flat levels for the next fiscal year. That amounted to a spending cut when accounting for inflation. Lawmakers also agreed to pull back tens of billions of dollars that Democrats had approved for expanding the Internal Revenue Service.

However, conservatives have regarded the spending agreement as a starting point for negotiations, and they spent the summer pushing for much lower funding levels. The hard-right lawmakers angry about the debt ceiling deal froze the House for a week in June by blocking procedural votes on noncontroversial legislation.

McCarthy eventually conceded to their demands and directed the House Appropriations Committee to prepare the 12 spending bills that fund the government for the 2024 fiscal year at the 2022 spending levels, well below what Biden and McCarthy had agreed on. And despite protests from the White House, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee advanced legislation in July that would cut spending by roughly 9.5 percent on average, according to Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress.

Many federal programs would have seen much more dramatic reductions. The spending proposals would bring spending on these domestic programs to their lowest point as a share of the domestic economy in at least 60 years, according to Kogan. (Democrats have characterized these plans as a 23 percent cut, when taking into account proposed spending reductions to the Inflation Reduction Act and other programs.)

[. . .]

Six Republican members from two different factions, three from the pragmatic Main Street Caucus and three from the hard-right Freedom Caucus, met for several days before announcing a deal on a stopgap measure last week. That would have funded the government for 30 days, cutting every department except the military and veterans programs by 8 percent. It included most of a Republican-approved border security bill.

The White House said that plan would mean 300,000 households, including 20,000 veterans, would lose housing support, 6.6 million students would see their Pell Grants cut, 60,000 seniors would lose help from services like Meals on Wheels and 2.1 million women would be waitlisted due to the cuts to the program for poor women who are pregnant or mothers. And yet again even these cuts, despite being blessed by several Freedom Caucus leaders, were also rejected by the smaller faction of hard-right House conservatives, who panned the measure and argued it still spent too much money.

The impasse has forced McCarthy into a legislative bind with only days to spare before a shutdown that many Republicans believe will bring a political backlash to their party. House Republican officials have discussed another $60 billion in spending cuts, but it is unclear if such a measure would prove sufficient to appease the remaining conservative holdouts.

“Speaker McCarthy is proposing increasingly deep cuts to some parts of the social safety net and many other critical government functions in an attempt to appease extreme members of his caucus,” Kogan said. “This would increase suffering among some of the most vulnerable Americans.”

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New Ad: Extreme Republican demands are pushing us toward a government shutdown

[WATCH] Congressman Derrick Van Orden and Republicans in Congress want to raise costs and threaten access to Social Security and Medicare

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Opportunity Wisconsin has launched a new ad highlighting Congressman Derrick Van Orden’s support for the extreme policies that are fueling the possibility of a government shutdown at the end of the month.

Republicans in Congress are demanding devastating budget cuts that will hurt working families in Wisconsin. Their plan would raise costs for Wisconsinites by slashing funding for schools, eliminating hundreds of preschool slots in the state, and gutting affordable housing programs. The Republican proposals would also exacerbate the state’s workforce challenges by eliminating job training and workforce development services for over 4,000 Wisconsin workers. The proposed cuts even slash funding for nutrition assistance for children and families and degrade Medicare and Social Security services with cuts that will increase wait times and make it more difficult for Wisconsinites to access the services they need. If Republicans shut down the government, over 7,400 women, infants, and children in Wisconsin would be at risk of losing access to nutrition assistance programs. 

“It’s time for Congressman Van Orden to stand up for the working families he’s supposed to represent, instead of standing with his caucus as they demand devastating cuts that will hurt our state,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Shutting down the government just to protect big corporations and the wealthiest Americans is wrong and Wisconsinites expect Congressman Van Orden to speak out against this dangerous plan.”
 

Watch Online

Full Transcript: 

Congressman Derrick Van Orden is selling us out, while special interests cash in. He voted for tax breaks for corporations while we pay more. Now he’s willing to stand with his caucus to shut down the government and push through a plan that would raise our costs and threaten access to Social Security and Medicare while protecting the rich and big corporations that cheat on their taxes. Derrick Van Orden should put Wisconsin first. Tell Congressman Van Orden: Don’t shut us down.
 

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ICYMI: House GOP funding bills would hurt hard-working Wisconsinites

White House Fact Sheet: Congressional Republicans would slash school funding, degrade Medicare services, worsen Social Security wait times, and more

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

MADISON, Wis. – In case you missed it, a new Wisconsin-specific White House fact sheet outlines the devastating consequences of government funding proposals introduced by House Republicans.

Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, including Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany, have refused to speak out against these proposals, even though they would harm the working families they represent. By demanding extreme cuts to programs including school funding, preschool, and administration funding for Social Security and Medicare, House Republicans are also turning their backs on the previous bipartisan budget agreement that averted a default earlier this year. 

While the Republican cuts would be devastating for families and seniors in Wisconsin, House Republicans would also add at least $100 billion to the deficit by gutting measures to force wealthy tax cheats and big corporations to pay their fair share, and another $500 billion to the deficit if their proposed corporate tax giveaway was made permanent. 

“If Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany want to help working families and seniors here in Wisconsin, they need to oppose these extreme bills that would have devastating consequences for our state,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Letting the wealthy and big corporations off the hook for paying their fair share, while slashing school funding and increasing wait times for Medicare and Social Security recipients is wrong. Wisconsinites expect our members of Congress to reject these harmful cuts and keep their promise.”

STATE FACT SHEET: House Republicans’ Funding Bills Would Have Devastating Impacts for Hard- Working Families Across Wisconsin [PDF]

In Wisconsin, the House Republican bills would:

• Slash Funding for Schools with Low-Income Students: House Republicans’ 80 percent cut to Title I funding would impact 388,200 students in schools that teach low- income students by forcing a reduction of up to 3,100 teachers, aides or other key staff.

• Eliminate Preschool Slots for 820 Children: House Republicans’ cut to Head Start would mean as many as 820 children in Wisconsin would lose access to high-quality preschool— undermining their education, leaving fewer children ready to enter kindergarten ready to learn, and making it more difficult for parents to join the workforce.

• Raise housing costs for over 200 households: The proposed cuts would eliminate funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for 200 households in the state of Wisconsin.

• Degrade Medicare Services: The House Republican’s cut to the administration of the Medicare program would force roughly 1,269,000 seniors and people with disabilities in Wisconsin to endure longer wait times when they call the Medicare call center, potentially increasing average wait times from five to more than nine minutes. This reduction in funding would also make it harder to pay hospitals and doctors on time, causing financial challenges for health care providers across the country, especially independent and rural providers. And it would limit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ ability to oversee the safety of Wisconsin nursing homes, reducing inspections by at least 10 percent.

• Worsen Social Security Wait Times: House Republicans’ reduction for the Social Security Administration would impact the roughly 1,381,000 Wisconsinites receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits. These cuts would cause people applying for disability benefits to wait approximately 9 months on average for a decision, more than doubling wait times from pre-pandemic levels. At funding levels this low, Social Security Field Offices could be forced to shorten the hours or days they are open to the public, or in some cases close altogether.

• Deny 4,200 Workers Access to Job Training and Workforce Development Services: House Republicans’ $4 billion in cuts to job training programs at the Department of Labor would result in 2,900 fewer adults receiving job training and employment services in the state of Wisconsin. House Republicans’ cuts would also deprive 1,400 youth from accessing programs providing the skills and training to support their transition to full-time careers. These harmful cuts would deprive businesses of the skilled workforce they need to thrive, and would cut off workers’ pathways to good jobs.

 

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As Congress reconvenes, Republican proposals would raise costs and hurt Wisconsin families

Congress must pass a budget in September to avoid a government shutdown and give working families the support they deserve

Friday, September 15, 2023

MADISON, Wis. – As Congress reconvenes this week Republicans are leading the charge toward a government shutdown by refusing to back down from policies that put the wealthy and big corporations first. 

Just months after Wisconsin Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany led the country to the brink of default by supporting the extreme “Default on America Act,” Congressional Republicans are once again pushing for policies that raise costs for Wisconsinites and give massive handouts to those at the top.
  
With less than three weeks to pass a federal budget, Republicans are standing by extreme demands that make steep cuts to programs, including funding for food assistance programs for children and infants, farms, and affordable housing. They are also pushing to help wealthy tax cheats and big corporations avoid paying their fair share, keeping the burden on working families here in Wisconsin. With these demands, progress has stalled on the appropriations bills that must be passed before the end of the month. 

These spending proposals deliver far less than the funding agreed to by Republicans and Democrats in the debt limit agreement earlier this year, while containing extreme policies that make their passage unlikely. Congress has also failed to pass a new Farm Bill, which Wisconsin family farmers and producers depend on as they make decisions about their operations for the next five years. 

Wisconsinites are demanding that Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany stop placing their extreme demands ahead of what’s best for working families and seniors in the state, and begin working to avoid a government shutdown:

“When our members of Congress are more concerned about protecting billionaires and big corporations over the working families they’re supposed to represent, our economy and communities suffer,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “These extreme policies will hurt working families by raising costs and making drastic cuts to programs they depend on.”

“Forcing a government shutdown while pushing to cut Social Security and Medicare and pass tax breaks to corporate special interests and the ultra-wealthy isn’t right,” said Deborah Cromer, a La Crosse retiree who depends on Social Security and Medicare. “We expect Congressman Van Orden to find common ground to avoid a shutdown, not push an extreme agenda that hurts our state and families like mine.”

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With abortion care available, Wisconsinites won’t forget Republican congressmen who stood in the way of access

Access to basic reproductive care will also increase economic security for Wisconsinites who have the freedom to decide when to start a family

September 14, 2023

MADISON, Wis. – With Planned Parenthood’s announcement that they will begin offering abortion care again in the state, Wisconsinites will once again have access to basic reproductive care without the extreme financial burden of traveling out-of-state and spending thousands out-of-pocket to access basic reproductive care. 

“No Wisconsinite should face a massive financial burden just to access the basic health care services they need. Today’s announcement from Planned Parenthood is an important step toward restoring reproductive freedom for everyone in our state. Wisconsinites won’t forget that since Roe v. Wade was repealed, Republicans like Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany have stood in the way of restoring access,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Their refusal to protect abortion access at the federal level left Wisconsinites without the care they deserve, or forced them to spend thousands traveling out-of-state to access care that should be available closer to home.”

Data shows those who have had to travel out-of-state for abortion care have been forced to pay up to $10,000, making this option out of reach for many working families. Other studies have shown that those who are denied access to abortion care are more likely to face ongoing financial stress, including unpaid debts and lack of full-time employment. Until access in Wisconsin is restored to the same level as before Roe v. Wade’s repeal, families will continue to face financial burdens. 

In addition to making care unavailable to Wisconsinites, the repeal of Roe v. Wade has exacerbated the state’s OB-GYN shortage as residency programs report a decline in enrollment due to the inability of residents to receive training in-state. 

Wisconsin’s members of Congress have continued to stand in opposition to reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade, which would expand access to abortion care in the state. Last year, Congressmen Steil and Tiffany voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have guaranteed abortion access and reproductive freedom at the federal level. Each of these congressmen also voted to ban travel reimbursements for abortion care for servicemembers in states where access was banned, and voted to ban abortion care at VA medical centers across the country. Congressman Van Orden has also been outspoken against abortion access, even comparing abortion to genocide and voting for a bill that takes away families’ freedom to make their own medical decisions and threatens to put doctors in prison. 

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ICYMI: Crack down on wealthy tax cheats to begin despite GOP attempts to stop it

New funding in the Inflation Reduction Act will make sure the ultra-wealthy and big businesses pay their fair share

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

MADISON, Wis. – In case you missed it, the IRS has announced a new effort is underway to crack down on the ultra-wealthy and big businesses who have refused to pay their fair share of taxes.

This program is made possible with funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was opposed by Wisconsin’s Republican delegation in Congress. In addition to opposing the Inflation Reduction Act, House Republicans – including Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany – voted multiple times earlier this year to stop this program and protect wealthy tax cheats who owe millions to the federal government.

“Wisconsinites work hard and they pay their fair share – it shouldn’t be any different if you’re a millionaire or big corporation, but that’s exactly what Republicans in Congress want to see,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany would rather protect wealthy tax cheats instead of giving the federal government the valuable resources they need to hold them accountable.”

Republicans have continued to mislead people about the law’s funding for additional IRS resources, falsely stating that this would be used to hire 87,000 new IRS agents. These claims have been found “patently untrue,” and the program is designed to use new technology and experienced auditors to examine only the most extreme tax evaders at the top who owe millions.


Associated Press: The IRS plans to crack down on 1,600 millionaires to collect millions of dollars in back taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said that with a boost in federal funding and the help of artificial intelligence tools, the agency has new means of targeting wealthy people who have “cut corners” on their taxes.

“If you pay your taxes on time it should be particularly frustrating when you see that wealthy filers are not,” Werfel told reporters in a call previewing the announcement. He said 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000 each in back taxes and 75 large business partnerships that have assets of roughly $10 billion on average are targeted for the new “compliance efforts.”

Werfel said a massive hiring effort and AI research tools developed by IRS employees and contractors are playing a big role in identifying wealthy tax dodgers. The agency is making an effort to showcase positive results from its burst of new funding under President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration as Republicans in Congress look to claw back some of that money.


“New tools are helping us see patterns and trends that we could not see before, and as a result, we have higher confidence on where to look and find where large partnerships are shielding income,” he said.

In July, IRS leadership said it collected $38 million in delinquent taxes from more than 175 high-income taxpayers in the span of a few months. Now, the agency will scale up that effort, Werfel said.

[. . .]

The federal tax collector gained the enhanced ability to identify tax delinquents with resources provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in August of 2022. The agency was in line for an $80 billion infusion under the law, but that money is vulnerable to potential cutbacks by Congress.

House Republicans built a $1.4 billion reduction to the IRS into the debt ceiling and budget cuts package passed by Congress this summer. The White House said the debt deal also has a separate agreement to take $20 billion from the IRS over the next two years and divert that money to other non-defense programs.

With the threat of a government shutdown looming in a dispute over spending levels, there is the potential for additional cuts to the agency.
 

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