SR 11 Text

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 11
(By Senators Bailey, Hunter, Love, Bowman, Dempsey, Chafin, Unger, Foster, Helmick, Fanning, White, Sharpe, Oliverio, Kessler, McCabe, Edgell, Jenkins, Plymale, Prezioso and Minard)

Requesting the United States House of Representatives defeat the Budget Reconciliation Bill.

Whereas, A conference report on the federal budget which cuts initiatives for poor and middle class families was passed by the United States House of Representatives in late 2005; and
Whereas, The United States Senate made changes that require the House to vote again on this measure; and
Whereas, The conference report allows states to impose substantial and harmful cost-sharing charges on Medicaid beneficiaries; and
Whereas, The conference report permits states to cut back on benefits for nearly all of the 28 million children now enrolled in Medicaid; and
Whereas, The conference report imposes unwarranted citizenship documentation requirements that would likely decrease Medicaid coverage among eligible U. S.-born citizens, especially elderly African-Americans; and
Whereas, The conference report imposes particularly unrealistic work requirements on two-parent families; and
Whereas, The conference report includes new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families work requirements that are more expensive for states; and
Whereas, The conference report grants vast new regulatory authority to the federal Department of Health and Human Services and instructs it to develop new paperwork requirements for states to track work participation; and
Whereas, The conference report cuts $1.5 billion from child support enforcement over the next five years, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would result in $8.4 billion of reduced collection of child support for single parents over the next decade; and
Whereas, The conference report contains cuts in child welfare that will make it more difficult for grandparents and other relatives to take care of their own grandchildren; and
Whereas, The conference report makes it harder for low-income seniors to obtain needed long-term care; and
Whereas, The conference report overburdens already strained public hospitals and threatens access to care for many Medicaid beneficiaries; and
Whereas, The conference report does not obtain reasonable savings by reducing overpayments to Medicare managed care plans or prices paid by Medicaid for prescription drugs; and
Whereas, The conference report allows states to deny coverage for contraception to poor women for the first time since Medicaid began; and
Whereas, The conference report cuts a net amount of $12.7 billion from federal student loan programs, representing the largest cut to student aid in the history of the programs; and
Whereas, The conference report puts student loan programs at risk by allowing funding to no longer be mandatory; and
Whereas, The conference report eliminates states' flexibility to design their own state-funded welfare programs; and
Whereas, The conference report limits access to federal courts by significantly increasing filing fees; and
Whereas, The savings resulting from these cuts in critical federal expenditures are intended to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate:
That the Senate hereby requests the United States House of Representatives to defeat the Budget Reconciliation Bill; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Senate calls upon the United States House of Representatives, and particularly to its members who represent West Virginia, to defeat these cuts and to defeat any future measure aimed at cutting critical expenditures that benefit low- and middle-income Americans in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest citizens; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the members of the United States House of Representatives who represent West Virginia.

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