Today, fifty-three state legislators from across the country released a letter calling on President Trump to abandon his taxpayer-funded White House ballroom and redirect that money toward his affordability crisis gripping American families.
The project is a study in runaway corruption: it began as a privately funded $200 million proposal, ballooned to $400 million, and is now being billed to taxpayers at $1 billion. An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the ballroom, by a two-to-one margin. Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans in Congress have slashed over $1 trillion in funding for health care, schools, and food assistance, telling working families there is no money for their basic necessities.
In the letter, first published by Common Dreams, the legislators spells out what $1 billion could actually do for the American people:
“That $1 billion could replace more than 200,000 lead pipes in America’s drinking water supply, protecting millions of families from lead poisoning. It could fund home heating and cooling assistance for around 1.5 million American families struggling with utility bills. It could cover a full year of food assistance for more than 400,000 working people, low-income families, and disabled Americans. It could buy over 200 million free school lunches for lower-income children, or eliminate waiting lists for WIC food assistance to infants and pregnant women entirely. The list goes on.”
The letter is the latest effort by state legislators to hold Trump accountable for policies that benefit his wealthy allies at the expense of everyone else. As housing costs soar, grocery bills climb, and Republicans sacrifice health care and food assistance on the altar of more tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, there is no justification for spending a billion taxpayer dollars on a monument to Trump’s ego.
A full copy of the letter can be found here. The names of those signing can be found below.
Sen. Mitzi Epstein, Arizona
Rep. Bob Marshall, Colorado
Sen. Cathy Kipp, Colorado
Rep. Manny Rutinel, Colorado
Rep. Rita Harris, Florida
Rep. Jasmine Clark, Georgia
Rep. Lisa Campbell, Georgia
Rep. Lydia Glaize, Georgia
Rep. Dewey McClain, Georgia
Rep. Sally Cluchey, Maine
Rep. Lynn Copeland, Maine
Rep. Deqa Dhalac, Maine
Rep. Gary Friedmann, Maine
Rep. Sophia Warren, Maine
Del. Adrian Boafo, Maryland
Del. Regina T. Boyce, Maryland
Del. Lorig Charkoudian, Maryland
Del. Eric Ebersole, Maryland
Majority Whip Ashanti Martinez, Maryland
Rep. Noah Arbit, Michigan
Rep. Jason Morgan, Michigan
Rep. LaDonna Appelbaum, Missouri
Rep. Ray Reed, Missouri
Assemblymember Howard Watts, Nevada
Rep. Susan Almy, New Hampshire
Rep. Dick Ames, New Hampshire
Rep. Susan Elberger, New Hampshire
Rep. David Fracht, New Hampshire
Rep. Mary Georges, New Hampshire
Rep. Jessica LaMontagne, New Hampshire
Rep. Christal Lloyd, New Hampshire
Rep. Patrick Long, New Hampshire
Rep. Jodi Newell, New Hampshire
Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, New York
Sen. Patricia Fahy, New York
Sen. Natalie Murdock, North Carolina
Sen. Tim Mathern, North Dakota
Sen. Mark Mann, Oklahoma
Rep. Andrea Valderrama, Oregon
Rep. Arvind Venkat, Pennsylvania
Rep. Aftyn Behn, Tennessee
Rep. Alma Allen, Texas
Rep. John Bryant, Texas
Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, Texas
Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, Texas
Rep. Christina Morales, Texas
Rep. Mihaela E. Plesa, Texas
Rep. Ron Reynolds, Texas
Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons, Texas
Minority Leader Gene Wu, Texas
Sen. Nate Blouin, Utah
Del. Adele McClure, Virginia
Del. Kayla Young, West Virginia
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