For Immediate Release: April 26 2023

Catholic Lobby Decries Extreme House GOP Budget

Mary J. Novak: “A functioning democracy invests in the very programs this budget seeks to cut.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Republican Conference released and is set to vote on a budget framework that will increase hunger, illness, and homelessness by prioritizing tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and corporations over vital human needs programs that enable all people to thrive.

In response to the House GOP budget, Mary J. Novak, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice’s Executive Director, said:

“A functioning democracy invests in the very programs this budget seeks to cut. The federal budget is a moral document that must prioritize care for vulnerable individuals, families, and communities. Investment in these communities creates a stronger, safer, healthier country where everyone can thrive. Whether we are Black, Brown, or white, urban or rural, everyone deserves health care, housing, and food! While thoughtful conversations about deficit reduction may be reasonable, it is immoral to take food out of the mouths of children, force families into homelessness, and arbitrarily end health care for the most vulnerable. If proponents of these cuts really cared about the deficit, they would raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy and corporations rather than hurting the workers and families.”

Instead of expanding access to healthcare, housing and nutrition, the Republicans’ budget will place time limitations on eligibility for these programs and cut funding for investments such as Medicaid, which serves nearly 90 million people. The budget proposes cuts to SNAP — which feeds 42 million children, families, seniors, and veterans annually — by limiting the ability of states to apply unused benefits from year to year. It also reclaims IRS funds meant to help collect taxes that are already owed from the rich and corporations, money that would fund these investments, help reduce the deficit, and benefit all taxpayers.

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NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. With a 50-year record of accomplishment and more than 100,000 supporters across the country, NETWORK advocates for federal policies that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org