Tell Congress kids with disabilities shouldn’t be forced to pay the U.S. debt!

In exchange for raising the debt ceiling and preventing a self-inflicted economic disaster, Republican leaders are demanding extreme cuts to essential programs, including Medicaid and education for kids with disabilities, that impact millions of Americans – including our Little Lobbyists families.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the Republican debt ceiling bill would cut Federal Medicaid funds by kicking 1.5 million people off their health coverage annually. It would also increase the amount states pay for Medicaid by $6.5 billion per year. Experts predict that if the GOP legislation is implemented, many states will end Medicaid coverage – putting all those who rely on Medicaid for the care they need to survive, like our kids with complex medical needs and disabilities, in crisis.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) gave students with disabilities the right to a free appropriate public education (like every other kid!) in 1990, but it has NEVER been fully funded. Despite the fact that the Federal government only pays 16% of IDEA costs, Republicans are demanding to cut $31 billion more from school budgets for kids with disabilities over the next decade. This year alone, our kids would lose $3.1 billion, equivalent to firing 48,000 special education teachers and inclusion personnel, affecting 7.5 million students with disabilities.

Republicans claim they need to cut the programs our kids rely on to cover the U.S. deficit, but that’s just not true. As House Republicans voted to cut our kid’s health care and education, they also introduced legislation to make permanent the “Trump tax cuts,” that lowered taxes on corporations and the wealthy and will cost the U.S. $1.7 trillion by the end of this year. In contrast, President Biden’s 2023 proposed budget INCREASED funding for health care and education while also reducing the deficit by asking corporations and people making over $400,000 a year to pay their fair share.

It seems like Congressional Republicans want our kids with disabilities to cover the U.S. debt to pay for the cost of their tax cuts to the ultra rich. We can’t let them get away with that.