Tell Your Senators to Support State Aid to Save Essential Jobs
The Senate on Monday will make one more attempt to overcome a Republican filibuster of aid to state and local governments that would save or create nearly a million jobs for teachers, public employees, police officers, firefighters and others.
Without such funding, the states that are facing huge budget shortfalls will be forced to begin massive layoffs that could cost nearly a million workers their jobs.
An amendment to the Federal Aviation authorization bill (H.R. 1586) would provide $16 billion for a Medicaid funding assistance program known as FMAP and $10 billion for teachers’ jobs. The vote is expected to occur late Monday afternoon.
On Monday, please call your senators at 877-442-6801 and tell them to pass H.R. 1586 with essential aid to states and school districts. Read the rest of this entry »
Republican Blockade of Medicaid Worsens States’ Budget Crises
A new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) warns that if Congress does not extend Medicaid assistance to help states operate the low-income health care program, the states’ budget crises and budget gaps will grow even larger.
The Medicaid funding assistance program, known as FMAP, was originally included in legislation to extend unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the long-term jobless that Senate Republicans blocked for more than two months. The filibuster against the UI bill was finally broken last week, but the Medicaid money was not included in the bill.
