Lujan Grisham Statement on Trump Budget

Statement

Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham released the following statement in response to President Trump's budget proposal. Rep. Lujan Grisham will question Trump's Budget Director during Wednesday's House Budget Committee hearing.

"President Trump's budget is hardly a vision for "America First.' Instead of creating jobs and moving more Americans into the Middle Class, the President wants to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for future wars while giving tax cuts to the super rich, corporations and special interests.

"At the same time, President Trump wants to cut $1.4 trillion from Medicaid, which provides critical health care services for 900,000 New Mexicans. We already know the Republican health care plan would result in an $11 billion economic hit to New Mexico, while eliminating 31,000 jobs. Additional Medicaid cuts outlined in today's budget plan would further cripple New Mexico's economy.

"Trump's budget wastes billions of dollars on a costly and ineffective border wall and deportation force, while calling for radical cuts to nutrition assistance, public education and medical research.

"Finally, the President's phony economic assumptions can't hide the fact that his reckless spending combined with massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will dramatically increase the U.S. debt and destabilize the economy."

Trump's Budget proposed the following cuts to programs that are critical to New Mexico:

* Cuts SNAP by $4.9 billion in 2018 and $193 billion over 10 years
* Cuts Temporary Aid to Needy Families by $1.2 billion in 2018 and a total of $15.6 billion over 10 years.
* Cuts the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit spending by $449 million in 2018 and $40.4 billion over 10 years.
* Cuts Social Security Disability Income benefits by reducing the months of retroactive disability benefits that can be awarded once an individual is found eligible.

Health Care
* The budget assumes the enactment of the House-passed AHCA.
* Cuts roughly $1.4 trillion from Medicaid over the next ten years, which includes $839 billion in cuts to Medicaid through the AHCA and $610 billion additional cuts.
* Cuts NIH spending by $5.7 billion, almost 20 percent below the 2017 CR level.

Education
* Cuts the Department of Education by almost 12% compare to FY 2017 level.
* Eliminates the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, eliminates subsidized student loans, and consolidates five current income-driven repayment plans into one single program.

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