essex commissioners call out federal proposals to slash healthcare and burden state budget, harming countless residents

Commissioner Brendan Gill (right) with Andrew Sprung (center) and other members of BlueWaveNJ

(Newark, NJ) – On Wednesday, April 30, the Essex County Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution voicing opposition to budget proposals in Congress that would drastically cut healthcare and other vital services for thousands of Essex County residents. GOP-led majorities in both houses of Congress passed a federal budget resolution in April laying out a blueprint to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from programs including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Through their responding resolution, the Board of Commissioners called on the New Jersey Congressional Delegation to reject spending bills that include huge cuts to these important programs.

“These devastating cuts will harm some of the most vulnerable New Jersey and Essex County residents, honest and hardworking people, just to pay for huge tax cuts for the very wealthy. It’s boldfaced cruelty at a time of rising costs and drastic income inequality. It is vitally important we speak out for our communities,” said Commissioner Brendan W. Gill. “My deep thanks to my Commissioner colleagues for putting their full support behind this statement, and to BlueWaveNJ and Marcia Marley for their advocacy on this issue.”

The resolution was proposed by Commissioner Brendan W. Gill, and sponsored by acclamation from all nine Commissioners. Montclair-based advocacy and organizing non-profit BlueWaveNJ commented in support of the resolution’s passage. The full text can be read online.

"The hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts that House Republicans have proposed would be devastating to the nearly two million New Jerseyans who rely on NJ FamilyCare -- very much including  the 550,000 low-income adults in the state and 70,000 in Essex County who rely on the ACA Medicaid expansion for coverage,” said Andrew Sprung, co-chair of BlueWaveNJ's Healthcare Committee. “The cuts would also wreak havoc on the state budget as well as on our hospitals and other providers. We call on the New Jersey Congressional Delegation – including the three Republicans who voted for a budget resolution calling for cuts on this scale – to reject inflicting this kind of damage on their constituents.”

In New Jersey, approximately 1.8 million low- and moderate-income people rely on NJ FamilyCare, which encompasses the state Medicaid program and CHIP, to cover their healthcare needs – and more than 200,000 people in Essex County. Approximately 830,000 New Jersey residents receive SNAP benefits, which provide them with the resources needed to feed their families, including 134,000 in Essex County. It is estimated that the budget plan could cost the State of New Jersey up to $9.4 billion annually in federal Medicaid funding. Proposed cuts to SNAP would force the state to limit benefits and restrict eligibility, pushing hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans toward food insecurity.

See more photos here: LINK

Watch a recording of the 4/30 Board of Commissioners meeting here: LINK

Read the resolution here: LINK