1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

As your constituent, I am urging you to reject the spending caps proposed by the House Appropriations Committee for FY2025, which are $75 billion less than the minimum previously agreed to. When Congress passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2024 in an agreement that suspended the debt ceiling limit, representatives agreed that FY 2025 funding for domestic and international programs would rise by no less than 1% over FY 2024. Back in March, you and your colleagues across the aisle joined together to increase domestic and international human needs funding for FY 2024 to $778 billion. They achieved this by agreeing to include funds from sources outside a cap, and these bills passed by a large bipartisan margin in the House and Senate. A 1% increase for 2025 should amount to $786 billion, but the House Appropriations Committee is ignoring the agreement for the 1% increase. By refusing to add funds beyond the harsh cap, the House Committee’s funding level would result in $75 billion less than was agreed to. These proposed funding caps would be devastating to so many programs including the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Social Security Administration’s customer service, and to programs that help treat people with substance use disorders, despite the opioid epidemic. We cannot reach prosperity by making the most vulnerable suffer. Please reject harsh and arbitrary funding caps that would result in at least $75 billion in reduced funding for critical human needs. Instead support legislation that invests in our communities.