CANANDAIGUA — Just days before U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney cast her vote in favor of a federal budget that slashes funding for Medicaid, food assistance, and other critical public services, CSEA leaders stood outside her district office with a clear and urgent demand: vote no.
That demand was ignored.
On May 20, CSEA Western Region President Steve Healy and Central Region President Kenny Greenleaf joined fellow union leaders and community members to speak out against a budget they warned would devastate working families across New York state.
Despite those warnings, Tenney ultimately voted to move the plan forward in the House Ways and Means Committee, siding with the ultra-wealthy over the needs of her own constituents.
“This budget is a betrayal of the people she was elected to represent,” said Healy. “Representative Tenney heard directly from the public workers who keep her district running, and she still chose tax breaks for billionaires over health care, education, and food assistance for everyday people.”
The budget includes what would be the most severe cuts to Medicaid in U.S. history. The budget plan would cut the health coverage of 1.5 million New Yorkers and reduce access to care for millions more, if passed into law.
In Rep. Tenney’s 24th Congressional District, those cuts will hit especially hard. Medicaid currently covers 40 percent of children, 76 percent of nursing home residents and 43 percent of births in the district, according to data from the Healthcare Association of New York State. The program also supports hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics that serve entire communities.
The plan also includes a $290 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), putting 19,000 of Tenney’s own constituents at risk of losing food assistance, even as the cost of living continues to rise.
“These cuts aren’t theoretical; they’re going to cause real harm,” said Greenleaf. “They’ll push vulnerable families even closer to the edge and make it harder for our union members to do their jobs. This isn’t responsible budgeting; it’s a direct attack on working people.”
While gutting essential services, the budget also makes permanent tax breaks originally passed in 2017 that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans. The top 0.1 percent of earners would receive an average tax break of $300,000, while working families would receive little to no benefit and lose access to critical programs in the process.
“This is the largest upward transfer of wealth in modern history,” Healy said. “And Representative Tenney chose to stand with the richest few instead of the thousands of working families across Upstate New York who depend on public services to survive.”
The fight continues
Despite the outcome of the vote, union leaders made it clear that this fight is far from over. Public service workers will continue to organize, advocate and hold elected officials accountable.
“We won’t be silenced or pushed aside. CSEA members power New York, and we’ll fight hard to defend our jobs, services, and communities,” said Greenleaf. “These attacks on working people end with us.”
— Nicholas Newcomb