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Payne Releases Report: Ryan Republican Budget a Recipe for Disaster for Communities of Color

April 22, 2014

Newark, N.J. – Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10) released a report today detailing how the Ryan Republican Budget would undermine the economic security of communities of color. The report concludes that the Ryan Republican Budget cuts hundreds of millions of dollars in vital education investments, ends the Medicare guarantee for seniors, and costs 1.1 million jobs in FY2015 alone – all while protecting tax breaks for special interests and the wealthiest among us.

“The Ryan Republican budget is yet another attack on seniors, students, and working families,” said Rep. Payne, Jr. “It asks those with less to pay for tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires, and it threatens the gains we are continuing to make since the recession. Millions of Americans, who for the first time in their lives are able to access affordable care, would be stripped of life-saving services and prescription drugs. At a time when too many still desperately struggle to make ends meet, New Jerseyans deserve and demand better.”

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Top 15 Ways Ryan Republican Budget Impacts Communities of Color

Repeals the Benefits of ACA and Punishes Seniors to Give Tax Breaks to Millionaires
  • Strips millions of Americans and their families of the private Marketplace health plans and the expanded Medicaid coverage they have obtained due to the Affordable Care Act.
  • More than 7 million African Americans, 8 million Latinos, and 3 million Asian Americans would again have to pay out-of-pocket for lifesaving preventive health care services, like mammograms and cervical and colon cancer screenings.
  • 3.1 million young adults would be kicked off their parents’ health care plans, including more than 500,000 African American, 913,000 Latino, and 121,000 Asian American adults between ages 19 and 25.
  • Seniors will see the end of the Medicare guarantee, including the 23 percent of Medicare enrollees who are people of color. Seniors would be forced to pay more for preventive services and prescription drugs under the Ryan Budget.

Threatens Our Nation’s Competitiveness for Generations to Come
  • The Ryan Republican budget cuts Pell Grants by $145 billion over 10 years, raising the cost of college for millions of American students – including the more than 60 percent of African American undergraduates and 50 percent of Hispanic undergraduates who rely on Pell Grants to help make college affordable.
  • The Ryan Republican Budget will eliminate income based student loan repayment options, adding more to weight to the heavy burden of student debt held by students of color and their families.
  • Up to two million slots in Head Start could be eliminated over the next decade — cutting up to 170,000 children from the program in 2016 alone – if GOP cuts are applied across-the-board.
  • Parents of tens of thousands of children would suffer from a 15 percent cut in help with child care expenses in 2016, if GOP cuts are applied proportionately.
  • Up to 3.4 million disadvantaged children at 8,000 schools would lose vital Title I education funding, if GOP cuts are applied across-the-board.

Undermining Economic Security and Stifling Economic Growth
  • The Ryan Republican budget would costs jobs, and slow our recovery – costing 1.1 million jobs in FY 2015 and 3 million the following year. Republicans’ trickle-down economic policies will have a devastating impact on communities of color already facing high unemployment – 12% among African Americans, 8% among Latinos, and 7% among Asian Americans.
  • Under the Ryan Republican budget, the wealthiest citizens would receive a tax cut, while middle class families would see a $2,000 tax increase.
  • The Ryan Republican budget cuts Food Stamps by $137 billion over the next 10 years, literally taking food out of the mouth of those who need it most. Nearly 62 percent of adult Food Stamp recipients are women and over 50 percent are people of color.
  • The Ryan Republican budget slashes $10.5 billion from WIC, which provides nutrition assistance for expectant mothers and their babies. This cut would be detrimental to people of color, who make up nearly 40 percent of the recipients of WIC assistance.
  • The Ryan Republican budget fails to ensure equal pay for equal work for all women and their families. Women as a whole earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, that number can dip as low as 53 cents, translating into a loss of $18,650 for African-American women and $24,111 for Hispanic women in 2012.
  • The Ryan Republican budget fails to address comprehensive immigration reform, which would result in a $900 billion reduction in the deficit over the next 20 years.