Today, 58 state legislators from Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin released a letter demanding that Senate Majority Leader John Thune immediately hold a vote on the House-passed extension of the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits that he, along with Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, killed last year. The legislators pointed out how successful those credits had been at keeping coverage affordable for Americans across the country, and condemned Republicans’ decision to take them away:
“Enhanced premium tax credits have been essential to making health care affordable for working families. Following their implementation, America’s uninsured rate fell to an all-time low and a record 21.3 million people signed up for newly affordable coverage. Your elimination of these credits is needlessly punishing hardworking families already suffering an affordability crisis.”
The letter goes on to say: “The time for political games is over and we are calling on you to immediately take up that bill in the U.S. Senate, pass it and send it to President Trump for his signature. The health and financial security of millions of Americans depends on it.”
Trump’s killing of the ACA tax credits, along with his steep Medicaid cuts in last year’s Big, Ugly Bill, are fueling a health care crisis that’s jacked up premiums for more than 20 million Americans and forced more than a million more to drop their coverage entirely. At the same time, the richest people in the country are set to receive $117 billion in tax breaks this year.
A full copy of the letter can be found here. The names of those signing can be found below.
Sen. Cathy Kipp, Colorado
Rep. Mandy Lindsay, Colorado
Rep. Tisha Mauro, Colorado
Rep. Daryl Campbell, Florida
Rep. Anna Eskamani, Florida
Rep. El-Mahdi Holly, Georgia
Rep. Marvin Lim, Georgia
Rep. Ruwa Romman, Georgia
Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, Georgia
Rep. Amy Perruso, Hawaii
Sen. Lakesia Collins, Illinois
Sen. Graciela Guzmán, Illinois
Rep. Maura Hirschauer, Illinois
Rep. Monica Kurth, Iowa
Sen. Art Staed, Iowa
Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, Iowa
Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, Iowa
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, Kentucky
Speaker Ryan Fecteau, Maine
Rep. Marc Malon, Maine
Rep. Poppy Arford, Maine
Rep. Mike Ray, Maine
Rep. Amy Roeder, Maine
Rep. David Sinclair, Maine
Rep. Heather Bagnall, Maryland
Del. Dylan Behler, Maryland
Del. Ashanti Martinez, Maryland
Del. Sean A. Stinnett, Maryland
Rep. Jason Morgan, Michigan
Rep. Stephen Wooden, Michigan
Rep. Susan Almy, New Hampshire
Rep. Susan Elberger, New Hampshire
Rep. Hope Damon, New Hampshire
Rep. Karen Hegner, New Hampshire
Rep. Linda Haskins, New Hampshire
Rep. Jessica LaMontagne, New Hampshire
Rep. Dan LeClerc, New Hampshire
Rep. William Palmer, New Hampshire
Rep. Marc Plamondon, New Hampshire
Rep. Terri O’Rorke, New Hampshire
Rep. James Gruber, New Hampshire
Assemblymember Karines Reyes, R.N., New York
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, New York
Assemblymember Al Stirpe, New York
Sen. Julie Mayfield, North Carolina
Sen. Natalie Murdock, North Carolina
Sen. Michael Garrett, North Carolina
Sen. Catherine Ingram, Ohio
Rep. Mike Schlossberg, Pennsylvania
Rep. Arvind Venkat, Pennsylvania
Rep. Aftyn Behn, Tennessee
Sen. Nate Blouin, Utah
Rep. William Greer, Vermont
Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, Virginia
Del. Kayla Young, West Virginia
Rep. Vincent Miresse, Wisconsin
Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, Wisconsin
Sen. Mark Spreitzer, Wisconsin
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