Dem Govs Express Deep Concerns with Trump’s Budget

Democratic governors responded to President Trump’s budget proposal today by expressing deep concerns about how the plan will impact their states’ economies and security. Governors also highlighted how Trump’s plan will undermine key priorities like education and housing.

DGA Chair and Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy said the proposal is “terribly wrong,” while DGA Chair-Elect and Washington Governor Jay Inslee called it, “incredibly harmful.” DGA Policy Chair and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the budget “reckless.” 

Here’s what Democratic governors are saying in response to President Trump’s budget proposal:  

• Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy: “If President Trump truly wanted to put ‘America first,’ he would start by putting our people and our common values first in his budget.  Instead, the administration gets it terribly wrong in this proposal.  This proposal guts programs that protect the environment and provide people access to critical services like housing, education, energy assistance, and child nutrition.  All of this comes on top of a proposed $880 billion dollar cut to Medicaid.  These are services that we in Connecticut have continued to support, even as we’ve made hard but necessary reductions in spending.  My administration will do all that we can to work with our federal delegation to ensure that this budget proposal does not come to pass.”

• Washington Governor Jay Inslee: “The budget blueprint issued today by President Trump includes incredibly harmful reductions to education, environmental protection, housing, health care, job training and economic development programs. Deep cuts are also made to research and development – in life sciences, clean energy, and more – that sustain America’s economic leadership in the world. This undercuts our ability to keep our people safe and healthy. The president’s proposal trades away the support needed to build a prosperous economy for working families to instead pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.”

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: “The Administration’s proposed budget is dangerous, reckless, and contemptuous of American values. It should be rejected by Congress out of hand. The proposal undermines policies and positions that have been cherished and defended by men and women of both parties, some for more than a century. It leaves behind the  most vulnerable among us, and puts our environment, our infrastructure, and our future at risk.”

• Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf: “Thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on programs that are being eliminated or dramatically cut in President Trump’s budget proposal. Seniors receive food from meals on wheels efforts. Families across Pennsylvania get help paying for their heating bills through heating assistance. Workers rely on job training programs to help them get back on their feet. Students across Pennsylvania with disabilities get access to the education they need to succeed through federal funding. All of these programs are facing elimination or massive cuts. It’s unacceptable.” 

• Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe: “It is clear that this budget is more about keeping misguided political promises than creating opportunity for Americans or making them safer. Eliminating federal support to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, doing away with the Appalachian Regional Commission and slashing investments in community development, affordable housing, home weatherization, and heating assistance will do significant harm to Virginia families and our economy. As will the President’s stated goal of gutting the federal workforce… If President Trump is serious about making our country a better and safer place to live, I urge him to look to states like Virginia. We balance our budgets and we spend taxpayer dollars on priorities that work, not political pandering that will harm our economy and the families we serve.

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