Reject Barriers that Perpetuate Inequities-Reject the Budget Reconciliation Bill

I am writing to urge you to oppose the budget reconciliation bill. The bill proposes sweeping changes that would make higher education and economic prosperity dramatically less affordable and accessible. It will weaken public schools. Students in under-resourced, historically marginalized communities would be hardest hit if $5 billion is redirected annually to private charter and religious schools via a national voucher program, stripping public schools of the resources they need to educate these students, eliminating civil rights protections, and leading to widening achievement gaps. It will expand barriers to women’s higher education. Women—especially student parents and families of color—would face steeper education costs, accruing interest while still enrolled and delaying degree completion as elimination of funding programs makes college less affordable for those already balancing caregiving, work, and study. It will erode the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Hardworking parents—many single heads of household—would lose critical support for childcare, rent, and basic living expenses, eroding a proven anti-poverty tool that improves children’s health, education, and long-term earning potential. It will threaten preventive healthcare access. Over two million women—many low-income and rural—would lose affordable contraception, cancer screenings, and STI testing due to a Medicaid ban on providers offering abortion, effectively defunding Planned Parenthood. All transgender adults will lose access to gender-affirming care under Medicaid and ACA Marketplace.  It will create harmful Medicaid coverage provisions and funding cuts. Enrollment hurdles, cost-sharing up to $35 per service, and work requirements may force many—particularly women and seniors—off Medicaid, disrupting preventive, prenatal, and long-term care. The bill also makes it harder for children, seniors, and people with disabilities to gain and retain coverage. As a nation, we should be creating pathways to opportunity and prosperity, not barriers that exacerbate inequity. For these reasons, we urge you to reject the budget reconciliation bill.