FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 23, 2017

CONTACT
Emily Fitzmaurice, Massachusetts Democratic Party, 617-939-0808

 Governor Baker Continues Silence as Trump Budget Aims to Gut Programs Working Families and Most Vulnerable Depend On

BOSTON – Despite the Trump Administration’s attempts to slash critical programs that Massachusetts residents depend on, Governor Charlie Baker continues to lack the courage and conviction to stand up to members of his own party.

“It’s a sad day in Massachusetts when we can’t get our Governor to speak out loudly against one of the most shocking budgets in history – one that pads the wallets of the nation’s wealthiest while ripping the rug out from under our working families and those in need,” said Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Gus Bickford.

The budget released by President Trump’s team would gut social programs and services that millions of Americans rely on, including:

• $610 billion in cuts to Medicaid, on top of the $880 billion in cuts called for in TrumpCare – a 47 percent cut to Medicaid, which 70 million Americans rely on for healthcare;
• $191 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a 25 percent cut to the program, which helps 42 million low-income Americans put food on their tables;
• Eliminating loan programs that help subsidize college education for the poor and those working in government and non-profits;
• $40.4 billion in cuts to the earned income tax credit and child care tax credit;
• Eliminating the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps 200,000 low-income residents and families in Massachusetts heat their homes;
• $72.5 billion from programs supporting those with disabilities, including the Social Security Disability Insurance program;
• Scrapping the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grants Program, which funds commuter rail service and infrastructure improvements;
• Barring federal funding from Planned Parenthood, which many low-income residents rely on for healthcare services; and
• $21.6 billion in cuts to welfare, a 13 percent cut to the program.

While it targets the nation’s working families and most vulnerable, the Trump budget calls for drastic tax cuts for the wealthy and the biggest corporations. At a time when the President and his staff are calling for decreased federal spending, they also included $1.6 billion in new taxpayer funding for the border wall that Trump promised his voters Mexico would pay for.

“Our President ran on a pledge to support working families but this budget puts those families and many who supported him in his crosshairs,” continued Bickford. “We need a budget that works to support and lift up all Americans – not just Trump’s friends on Wall Street. Until he is willing to call out his Republican colleagues and the President for these egregious cuts, Governor Baker will continue to be complicit when American lives and families are destroyed by this budget.”

###