Apr 8, 2014 - LATINO LEADERS: RYAN BUDGET WOULD SET HISPANIC COMMUNITY BACK, STIFLE RECOVERY

PRESS RELEASE
April 8, 2014

Ryan Budget's Nearly $5 Trillion In Cuts Disproportionately Impact Low Income Families

Washington, D.C. -- The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 37 of the nation’s preeminent Latino organizations, today warned that the budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would devastate struggling Hispanic families already hit hard by previous austerity plans.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the budget includes a staggering $3.3 trillion in cuts to programs that support low-income families such as Medicaid, Pell Grants, nutrition programs and the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits. The cuts would have a sweeping impact on millions of Americans. The Ryan budget would leave an estimated 40 million people without health coverage and another 3.8 million without food assistance, while slashing programs that help lift families out of poverty.

The budget proposal contrasts with the priorities of NHLA’s Latinos United for a Fair Economy campaign, which call for investing in job training and small business; protecting the most vulnerable by maintaining Medicaid and other social safety net programs; and investing in youth. NHLA welcomed the Bipartisan Budget Act last December, which replaced automatic across-the-board cuts known as sequestration that had eroded funding for many important programs that lift up Latino families, such as Head Start, the WIC nutrition program, and education funding to schools serving low income students.

"Rather than build on the bipartisan cooperation that suspended sequestration this year, Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget is a step backwards, adding more pain to the cuts already made to Latino-serving programs by sequestration last year," said Hector Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA). "Time and again over recent years, our communities have started climbing toward recovery only to have mindless budget cuts set them back. The Ryan Budget would be a new low. The slash-and-burn ideology behind this budget proposal places all the burden on struggling Americans, all but ignoring their dreams of prosperity."

"While the Ryan Budget is dead on arrival in the Senate, it sends a stark message to Latino and low-income communities about the misplaced priorities of the House majority," said Eric Rodriguez Vice President of Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). "Austerity policies have slowed the recovery for communities like ours that were hit hardest by the recession and Latino voters have had enough of it. Members of the House who vote for this budget, will once again show how out of step they are with the vast majority of Latino voters, eroding their already low approval ratings."

"Budgets reflect personal values and beliefs. Sadly, the Ryan Budget stands diametrically opposed to the values and beliefs of the Latino community," stated José Calderón, President of the Hispanic Federation. "By favoring huge tax breaks for the wealthiest and gutting crucial social and economic programs for working Americans, Rep. Ryan's plan in essence throws Latino families under the bus. We cannot allow it to pass."

According to a survey of registered Latino voters by Latino Decisions and NCLR last December, 61 percent of Latino voters said they are more likely to vote for a Member of Congress who supports stopping cuts and restoring funding for government programs, more than double the 26 percent who said that this would make them less likely to vote for the candidate. Neither political party received a passing grade from Latinos. Only 27 percent of Latino voters approved of the job Republicans in Congress are doing to handle the federal budget, while 63 percent disapproved. Democrats fared somewhat better, with 48 percent approval and 42 percent disapproval.

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Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org and LatinosUnited.org/faireconomy and follow @NHLAgenda.

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