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Take Action! Tell Congress: "Budget Process Plans Will Hurt Low-Income Families"	Current rating: 0
by Opportunity for All Campaign via email (No verified email address)	02 Jun 2004
Which way will the 15th District's U.S. Representative Tim Johnson swing?
June 1 - A couple of weeks ago we told you about plans in the House of Representatives to change the way Congress considers and approves a budget. A bill sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) could go to the House floor for a vote as early as next week (HR 3973). This bill and other bills under consideration would make it much more difficult for Congress to increase spending for programs that help low income families, while paving the way for Congress to pass more tax cuts that are not paid for. At the bottom of this email we provide more background about the budget proposals. We must work together to make sure members of Congress know the budget plans about to be taken up by the House will disproportionately hurt the programs that serve the most vulnerable Americans. Those in Congress who want to lock in service cuts are expecting people to be too bored by words like "budget process" to pay attention to the profound impact these rules will have. Please show Congress you are paying attention! We encourage you to take these two actions: 1. Send a letter Send a letter to the House of Representatives explaining your organization's opposition to proposals that will cap discretionary spending for programs like education, child care, child nutrition, housing and other programs; drastically cut entitlement spending by $1.8 trillion over the next ten years; make it easier for Congress to pass tax cuts that are not paid for and more difficult to increase spending on needed programs. Use the attached sample letter (drafted by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) and tailor the message for your organization. If you send a letter to the Hill, please send a copy to Jen Beeson at jbeeson (at) chn.org. 2. Visit or Call Key Targets Attached is a list of key House members who should hear our concerns about budget process reform. We encourage groups to call or hold meetings with target members. In addition, the Coalition on Human Needs is organizing group visits to some of these target members. If your organization is interested in participating in CHN group visits, please contact Jen Beeson at jbeeson (at) chn.org or phone 202-223-2532 ext. 29. Background: Three Ways to Strangle Human Needs Programs (1) Chairman Nussle's bill (HR 3973) would cap discretionary spending for five years for programs like education, special education, some child welfare and child care programs, certain nutrition programs, health research, and environmental protection, and more. (2) In addition, the bill would change the ground rules for passing a budget to make it easier for Congress to pass more tax cuts that are not paid for and make it harder to increase needed spending. Both bills require Congress to pay for any increases in entitlement spending by cutting entitlement spending elsewhere. At the same time, Congress would not be required to pay for new tax breaks, allowing them to make the deficit deeper and deeper. This lopsided version of "pay-as-you-go" rules would encourage Congress to continue passing tax breaks that dramatically favor the well-off while making it very difficult to update or expand programs like Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or Food Stamps. (3) For some, it is not enough to thwart even modest efforts to update services. It is also quite likely that the House will consider an amendment to add an entitlement cap to the bill that will slash those services. The amendment could be based on provisions included in two other budget process bills (HR 3800 and HR 3925) that would force drastic cuts in entitlement programs totaling $1.8 trillion over the next ten years. This includes cuts of nearly $800 billion from Medicare, nearly $400 billion from Medicaid, $43 billion from food stamps, $69 billion from unemployment compensation, $37 billion from welfare-to-work, child care and child support enforcement, and $13 billion from foster care and adoption assistance. Every single entitlement program except Social Security is at risk, including student loans, State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and veteran's benefits. Although the Nussle bill does not currently contain entitlement cuts, it is possible that the Rules Committee will add these provisions or allow an entitlement cut amendment to be voted on the floor. We must fight this amendment tooth and nail - making sure it does not get added to the base bill and is not endorsed by the House leadership. For More Information Center on Budget and Policy Priorities "Key Issues and Threats in the House Budget Process Debate" http://www.cbpp.org/5-17-04bud.htm Center on Budget and Policy Priorities "Entitlement Cap Proposal Would Require Cuts of $1.8 Trillion Over the Next Ten Years" http://www.cbpp.org/3-16-04bud.htm ================== Join the Opportunity for All Campaign The choices in the federal budget will make a profound difference in the lives of millions of Americans. Is the door to opportunity slamming shut, or will people get the chance to find and keep a decent job and provide for their children, and to have health coverage, affordable housing, and a secure retirement? Because these choices are too important to be left to a handful of insiders, the Coalition on Human Needs has started the Opportunity for All Campaign. In order to succeed, we need tens of thousands of advocates to receive timely information and to speak out in favor of fair and commonsense budget decisions. If you would like to be a part of the Opportunity for All Campaign, send an email to Adam Hughes at ahughes (at) chn.org. SAMPLE LETTER TO CONGRESS ON BUDGET PROCESS June __, 2004 Dear Member of Congress, We are writing to express our opposition to budget process legislation expected to be voted on by the House of Representatives in June. Many of the proposals currently under consideration would likely result in deep cuts in [veterans/education/environmental/health care/etc.] programs, and undermine efforts to [describe your programs’ mission]. The legislation reported out by the House Budget Committee, H.R. 3973, contains two provisions that we believe would be detrimental to our nation’s [veterans/school children/the environment/health care system/etc.]. First, the Budget Committee bill includes a lopsided “pay as you go” rule that would permit additional tax cuts to be enacted without offsets. This would likely lead to even larger federal deficits that would in turn create additional pressure to cut programs. The proposed “pay-go” rule would also bar Congress from making improvements in entitlement programs unless they were accompanied by cuts in other entitlements. Second, the Budget Committee bill establishes five-year caps on discretionary spending, which will be set at levels that will force deep cuts in many domestic programs, including [your discretionary program(s)]. These cuts will mean that [describe impact of cutting your discretionary program(s)]. In addition, there are other harmful budget process changes that could be added by the Rules Committee or by floor amendment. In particular, we are concerned about proposals that would establish caps on entitlement programs. An entitlement cap proposal that was contained in two budget process bills introduced earlier this year — H.R 3800 and H.R. 3925 — would mandate approximately $1.8 trillion in entitlement cuts over the next 10 years. [Your entitlement program(s)] alone would face a cut of [insert $ figure – see http://www.cbpp.org/5-17-04bud.pdf, page 6]. This would be devastating to [describe population served by your entitlement program(s)]. We are also concerned about efforts to create an additional cap on non-defense discretionary programs, which would make it even more difficult to avoid deep cuts in [your discretionary program(s)]. We recognize that Congress needs to take steps to address the spiraling federal deficit. However, we respectfully ask that you do so in a manner that imposes the same discipline on all parts of the budget, including revenues, rather than singling out domestic programs for cuts that would cause great harm to the people they are intended to serve. Sincerely,
See also: http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/article.asp?Art=2129
Related stories on this site: U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson: Leaving Nearly Every Child (Except the Wealthy) Behind; Shorts Local Schools $1.6 Million in Promised Funding to Improve Education

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US Rep. Tim Johnson Contact Info
by Tim Bears Watching (No verified email address)	Current rating: 0 02 Jun 2004
You can email Tim's office by going to this page and clicking on the email link at the top of it: http://www.house.gov/timjohnson/contact.html Here are the old-fashioned ways of contacting Tim's offices: WASHINGTON D.C. STAFF 1229 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-2371 Fax: 202-226-0791 Chief of Staff: Jerry Clarke Legislative Director: Erik Woehrmann Legislative Aides: Therésè Rios Steve Borg Kelly Nettleton Scheduler: Jen Boak Staff Assistant: Matthew Jones BLOOMINGTON STAFF 1 Brickyard Dr. Suite 201 Bloomington, IL 61701 Phone: 309-663-7049 Fax: 309-663-9880 Staff Contact: Beth Harding District Aide: Kevin Johnson CHAMPAIGN STAFF 2004 Fox Drive Champaign, Il 61820 Phone: 217-403-4690 Fax: 217-403-4691 Chief of Staff: Jerry Clarke District Director: Jeremy Cirks District Scheduler Matt Bisbee Grants & Special projects coordinator/District Scheduler: Brian Kelly Office Manager: Maureen O'Sullivan District Aides: Jennifer Callahan Terrance Stevenson MT. CARMEL STAFF 1001 Market St., Suite 102 Mt. Carmel, IL. 62863 Phone: 618-262-8719 Staff Contact: Larry Reynolds CHARLESTON STAFF 655 W. Lincoln Ave. Unit B Charleston, IL. 61920 Phone: 217-348-6759 Staff Contact: John Morris

Re: Take Action! Tell Congress: "Budget Process Plans Will Hurt Low-Income Families"
by rena (No verified email address)	Current rating: 0 23 Jun 2004
perhaps tim would take a pay cut to help save some of these programs? "like an act of good faith"