Senator Singleton and Senate President Scutari Resolution Condemning Federal Efforts to Cut Funding for Healthcare and Nutrition Programs Passed by Committee

TRENTON – In response to the recent passage by the House of Representatives of a budget resolution that seeks to cut hundreds of billions in funding for programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee has passed a resolution from Senator Troy Singleton and Senate President Nick Scutari condemning the cuts and calling on the U.S. Senate to reject the budget resolution.

“It is hard to overstate how disastrous the House’s proposed cuts to critical federal healthcare and food assistance programs would be for working families,” said Senator Singleton (D-Burlington). “In New Jersey, a third of children and nearly 2 million residents receive their healthcare from this funding, and over 800,000 residents receive SNAP benefits. Cutting health coverage and food assistance to these families to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans is reprehensible, and frankly, immoral, especially when families are already struggling financially. I urge the U.S. Senate to reject these radical proposals.”

The House’s budget resolution specifically seeks to cut $1.5 trillion over ten years by asking the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, to cut $880 billion while the Agriculture Committee overseeing SNAP is asked to cut $230 billion. Among other cuts to federal programs, the budget resolution also seeks to approve significant tax cuts on the wealthy, of which over two-thirds would go to the wealthiest fifth of Americans, according to analysis from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, linked here.

The text of the resolution notes that according to estimates from the Department of Human Services (DHS), the House budget resolution could reduce federal matching funds for NJ FamilyCare, which encompasses the state’s Medicaid program as well as the Children’s Health Insurance Program, by as much $5.2 billion, which would be roughly 20 percent of the program’s budget. The DHS also found that the cuts could result in the state’s hospital system losing up to $4.9 billion in Medicaid funding, threatening their financial stability and continued operation.

The resolution was advanced by the Committee in a 5-3 vote.