Federal Spending Bill Includes Key CPD/A Priorities, But the Fight is Not Over

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20, 2022

Contact: danielle@newheightscommunications.com 

Washington, D.C. --  Congress released its 2023 spending bill last night – which included significant wins for Black, brown, and low-income communities that CPD/A members fought hard for, organizing actions on Capitol Hill and throughout the country for months as Congress negotiated. Just last week, over 200 people joined progressive members of Congress to demand that lawmakers stay in Washington until they delivered for us. 

Jennifer Flynn Walker, Co-Chief of Campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPD/A), released the following statement in response to the spending bill: 

“We're relieved to see the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act included in the omnibus bill, as the global pandemic has only worsened the devastation the overdose crisis continues to cast on communities nationwide. Increasing access to treatment and funding for substance use disorder, overdose reversal, and mental health services will save lives, help stabilize families, and strengthen our communities.

“Still, there is so much more to do. The same forces that combined to create the overdose crisis — corporations that placed profit above people’s lives and lawmakers that prioritized tax cuts over investment in communities — continue to block progress. Voters gave this Congress a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make the bold structural changes required to build a more equitable and just society. We saw glimpses of what’s possible: over 2 million children lifted out of poverty, expanded access to healthcare for millions of low-income families, over three million households receiving emergency assistance to avoid eviction, and the most robust labor market seen in a generation. 

“Instead of building on that success, the omnibus takes a step back to unsustainable and unjust pre-pandemic policies, with no expanded Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit and spending for struggling families that represents a fraction of the billions poured into the US war machine. The bill also winds down Medicaid coverage attached to the Public Health Emergency on COVID, allowing states to disenroll people starting in April. Congress also failed to use this bill to create a path to citizenship for people with DACA or TPS protections, leaving folks vulnerable to healthcare and housing insecurity, economic insecurity, and deportation. Finally, while we support increased investments in pandemic preparedness, we cannot keep our people safe without investing in long-term care for people with Long COVID. This bill fails to manage the chronic impacts of the crisis we face.

“While we celebrate the hard-won victories in this bill, we know our work remains undone. We will continue to fight for a government that puts people over corporate interests and makes the investments necessary to allow our communities to thrive.”

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The Center for Popular Democracy Action works to create equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with high-impact base-building organizations, organizing alliances, and progressive unions. We work on campaigns that promote a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial and economic justice agenda and win victories to improve people’s lives.