Red alert! Senator Susan Collins is caving and she needs to hear from YOU—today and every day until the Senate votes on the morally vacant tax bill.
There are myriad ways this cruel legislation would hurt low-income and middle-class folks—all in the name of giving tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy—but we are particularly concerned by how the proposal could impact women and families. Not only does the bill cut key deductions that help Mainers make ends meet, but it tries to sneak in major policy changes that have nothing to do with “tax reform,” like gutting Obamacare and inserting anti-abortion language into an obscure provision on college savings. Bottom line: The tax bill is an abomination and it must be defeated.
From eliminating the student loan interest deduction and certain childcare credits to raising taxes on families that have serious and costly medical conditions, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” includes many provisions that will make it harder for lower-income women and families to get by. Multiple analyses have shown that the tax plan’s biggest beneficiaries will be Wall Street titans and the super-rich, while middle- and lower-income households will see few, if any, benefits.
And then there’s the stealth attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate through the tax bill. Putting aside that the some members of Congress just can’t seem to accept the fact that the American public doesn’t want Obamacare to go away, this is a dangerous proposal that would result in an estimated 13 million people losing their health coverage.
According to the Maine Center for Economic Policy, without the individual mandate, Mainers could see their premiums go up by as much as $3,000 in Maine’s more economically-depressed regions and the state’s uninsured rate would go up from 6.8 percent to 11.8 percent within 10 years.
When folks lose their health insurance, it puts more pressure on organizations like ours—Title X-funded health care providers who serve low-income, uninsured patients every day. When you consider that the Trump administration is simultaneously waging war against birth control affordability and family planning providers (not to mention the “anti-abortion Easter egg” tucked into the tax bill), you have a perfect storm with women’s health and autonomy in its eye.
Call Senator Collins TODAY and urge her to vote NO on the obscene tax bill. Urge her instead to support proposals that improve the health and well-being of Maine women and families. Together, we can make our voices heard.
Call (202) 224-2523 now.
Or call one of her state offices (you can call any office, not just one near you):
Augusta – (207) 622-8414
Bangor – (207) 945-0417
Biddeford – (207) 283-1101
Caribou – (207) 493-7873
Lewiston – (207) 784-6969
Portland – (207) 780-3575
