At Subcommittee Markup, Republicans Move to Eliminate Public Education and Jeopardize Health Care for Millions
WASHINGTON — Today, House Republicans advanced their extreme 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies funding bill that is an assault on education and job training, puts health coverage for millions of Americans at risk, and abandons ongoing public health crises.
This bill:
- Puts health care coverage for millions of Americans in jeopardy by cancelling $2 billion for operating Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans, threatening the ACA health insurance Marketplace.
- Abandons college students and low-income workers trying to improve their lives through postsecondary education by increasing interest rates for 5 million college student borrowers, cutting funding for need-based financial aid, and eliminating job training programs.
- Decimates support for children in K-12 elementary schools by slashing funding for low-income students, eliminating funding for teacher training, and eliminating funding for community schools.
- Slashes research for maternal health, telehealth, and patient safety in hospitals and health clinics by eliminating funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and terminating nearly $1 billion from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF).
- Harms women’s health by cutting programs that support maternal and child health, eliminating programs that provide access to contraception and health services, and adding numerous partisan and poison pill riders related to abortion and reproductive health.
- Surrenders to ongoing health crises by making major cuts to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, and reducing funding for mental health services and substance use prevention and treatment.
From Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro’s (D-CT-03) opening remarks, as delivered:
“Americans are struggling to afford everything from gasoline to groceries; from utilities to health insurance; from mortgage payments to medical bills. But instead of doing anything to address the affordability crisis – which is a real crisis, it is not a hoax or a con job as the president claims – this bill makes the problem even worse. Healthcare costs are going up, and hospitals are shutting down… The president said we do not have money for day care, for Medicare, for Medicaid, because, quote, ‘we are fighting wars.’ The president wants to increase the Defense budget by half a trillion dollars. Meanwhile, this bill cuts funding for education, public health, reproductive health, and job training.”
DeLauro highlighted how this bill is an attack on job training and furthers Republicans’ goal of eliminating public education: “…this bill cuts $8 billion – 10 percent – from the Department of Education. That includes a $2 billion cut to Title I grants, which will push tens of thousands of teachers out of their classrooms, and leave countless children with a worse education. This is a step down the path toward eliminating public education in this nation, but I believe that is the ultimate goal of the majority. As new technology upends the workforce, and inflation outpaces wage growth, this bill eviscerates funding for employment and training programs by $3.3 billion – one-third below the 2026 level. It eliminates funding for adult and youth job training entirely, while cutting funding for the Job Corps in half.”
A summary of House Republicans’ 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies funding bill is here. A fact sheet is here. The text of the bill is here. Information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.
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