Contact: David Pringle, 732-996-4288 (Cell)

HUUUGE Vote Tomorrow for Frelinghuysen & MacArthur

Will House R’s buck Trump or hike taxes on NJ & gut EPA?

Clean Water Action delivers 100’s of personalized letters

Toms River & Morristown, NJ — House Republicans have just scheduled for tomorrow a vote on the 2017-18 federal budget that hikes taxes on middle and working class New Jerseyans, permits drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and makes drastic cuts to environmental and clean energy programs, all to finance tax cuts for the richest 1% of Americans. For details, go to http://www.cleanwateraction.org/publications/letter-house-oppose-senates-fy-18-budget-resolution.

Last month the House passed a less controversial, but still anti-environment, anti-taxpayer budget by only 13 votes but this version is worse, has passed the Senate and has President Trump’s support. Among New Jersey’s congressional delegation, all the Democrats and Reps. Lance, Lobiondo and Smith opposed the earlier measure. The other 2 NJ Republicans, MacArthur and Frelinghuysen, supported it.

Over the past 6 months, Clean Water Action has knocked on tens of thousand of doors in New Jersey and generated thousands of personalized letters from its members urging their representatives to ensure fair taxes and funding for core environmental, public health and climate programs.

Clean Water Action has met with Reps. Smith and Lance. Rep. Lobiondo is meeting with environmentalists this week. Reps. MacArthur and Frelinghuysen have rejected repeated requests to even talk with any of the tens of thousands of their constituents and representatives concerned about these issues.

“With tomorrow’s vote looming, MacArthur and Frelinghuysen voting the wrong way before and refusing to even talk to us, we’re hand delivering today 100’s, just a small sampling, of the personal letters from our members urging their representatives to do right by them,” said Janet Tauro, NJ Board Chair of Clean Water Action and a MacArthur constituent.

Supporters of the proposed budget would eliminate federal tax exemptions for local property tax and state income tax deductions and weaken their 401k’s. The House and Senate have already both voted for, and the President supports, drastic cuts to critical programs.

New Jersey cannot afford these types of cuts. We already pay more in taxes and get less back in services than practically any other state. Our state has over 100 Superfund sites, more than any other state. Programs that support Barnegat, Delaware and the New York/New Jersey Estruaries, environmental justice, lead poisoning, climate health, Jersey Shore BEACH water quality testing, chemical security, and so much more have all been proposed to be eliminated.

“This ongoing budgetary slaughter is the worst consequence of the new swamp Trump has created in Washington. We cannot continue to let the future of this country, of the middle class and the environment, be mortgaged by those who have nothing to lose period but especially for tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. Thankfully it’s not too late for Congress, Tom MacArthur and Rodney Frelinghuysen to change course. Their constituents are speaking. Are their representatives listening?” added Alyssa Bradley, Clean Water Action’s NJ Energy Organizer and a Frelinghuysen constituent.

Since Clean Water Action’s founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We will protect clean water in the face of attacks from a polluter friendly Administration and Congress. More info. athttp://www.cleanwateraction.org/nj.

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