HANDS OFF CHIP: Oppose Plan to Slash $15 Billion from Vital Programs

Trump Administration and Federal Government Working Group C2A

THE ISSUE

To shore up support from fiscal conservatives angered by recent debt increases, the Trump Administration is employing a legislative maneuver called rescission to slash already appropriated program funding. Trump’s proposed $15 billion rescission package makes cuts to 30 programs, including $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), $800 million from the Medicare & Medicaid Innovation program, and $4.3 billion in loans from the Department of Energy for development of fuel efficient cars.  While targeted to program funds that were left unspent from 2017, the cuts could leave some programs that fluctuate based on need severely underfunded in the event of an emergency or the kind of political infighting that can cause a program to remain unauthorized for months, as happened with CHIP earlier this year. Congress has 45 days to act on the proposal. 9 House Republicans including Bruce Poliquin rushed to co-sponsor HR 3: The Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act. Several Senate Republicans have expressed opposition to the proposal including Senator Susan Collins, uniquely positioning Mainers to take action to stop this power grab by the Administration.

THE ACTION

Tell your Members of Congress to protect all allocated funding to vital and current programs, including CHIP.

• Senator Collins, a member of the Appropriations committee and a strong supporter of CHIP, is leaning against supporting Trump’s plan. Quote her statement on CHIP’s importance to her personally.
• If you live in CD2, be sure to call out Rep Poliquin’s support of plans to cut health care to needy kids on his social media accounts or with a letter to the editor. Share Representative Chellie Pingree’s response, and tell him this is how to properly represent Mainers.

TALKING POINTS

• 30% of Maine’s population is low income.
• 23% of Mainers are covered by Medicaid/CHIP
• 52% of kids in Washington County and 51% of kids in Aroostook County rely on Medicaid/CHIP
• 22,310 Maine children (1 in 2) rely on CHIP for health insurance coverage and Maine is set to exhaust its 2018 CHIP funding in June of 2018, making these additionally funds necessary.