This week, the U.S. Senate narrowly passed (thanks to Vice President Vance’s tie-breaking vote) a dangerous budget reconciliation bill that provides tax breaks for billionaires at the expense of health care, food assistance and education programs for working families. The bill now returns to the U.S. House, where your representative’s vote will help determine the ultimate outcome.

Among the major issues with the bill the House is about to consider are:

• Creation of a tax-credit voucher scheme to provide $25 billion for private schools with no public accountability. America cannot afford to fund two education systems, one private and one public. Taxpayer dollars should go to public schools open to all students, not private schools that can pick and choose their students.
• Even deeper cuts to Medicaid health insurance programs that what the House originally passed. Nearly 17 million Americans could lose access to health care due to new limits on eligibility for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The fourth-largest source of support for K-12 public schools, Medicaid covers 38 million children and 1 in 10 education support professionals.
• Millions of students could go hungry due to $186 billion in cuts and new restrictions on eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). When families lose eligibility for SNAP, children’s access to school meals is also at risk.
• Hikes to monthly student loan payments and overall hampering of college access and affordability, including elimination of affordable student loan repayment options, ending programs that provide federal student loans to graduate and professional schools, and imposes new taxes on scholarships and fellowships.

To add insult to injury, the budget proposal would make huge cuts to Medicaid for families and children across Michigan, causing further harm to low-income students, parents, schools and communities. About 2.6 million Michiganders — including 1 million children — receive health coverage through Medicaid. In addition, Michigan schools received over $170 million in 2024 alone to provide physical and mental health services to students.

Read more here from NEA’s release about the bill passed this week by the Senate.

Please contact your local member of Congress today and urge them to protect our schools, kids and communities by rejecting these reckless Medicaid cuts, school voucher schemes and more!