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Van Hollen Fights for Working Families in Budget Markup

Today U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen offered several amendments at the Senate Budget Committee markup designed to protect working families in Maryland and across the country from the disastrous consequences of the Republican budget.

"The Senate Republican Budget is a recipe for disaster for American families," said Senator Van Hollen. "This Republican budget puts Medicare, Medicaid, and education funding on the chopping block to finance windfall tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Both our budget and our tax code should be focused on growing our economy, creating good paying jobs, and helping families succeed. What Republicans are proposing does the exact opposite. Marylanders deserve better."

Amendments offered by Senator Van Hollen include:

  • Block any budget that would repeal the estate tax. This is a giveaway to .2 percent of taxpayer estates. If you have a small business or a family farm worth less than $5.5 million, or less than $11 million if you're a couple who owns it, you don't pay a penny in estate tax - you don't even have to file any paperwork on it. In order to give this windfall to the wealthiest families in the country, the Republican budget puts $240 billion over 10 years on the nation's credit card.
  • Eliminate $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid in the Republican budget. In order to help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, this Republican budget includes a $1 trillion cut to Medicaid -- a health care program that provides care to 68.5 million people in this country. Efforts to make the same kind of cuts through health care repeal were just roundly rejected by the American people and by the majority of the Senators in this body.
  • Block any budget that would increase taxes on families making less $250,000 annually. The President's tax plan raises the bottom individual tax rate from 10 percent to 12 percent while cutting the top individual rate. It is estimated that this Republican plan will raise taxes on 21 million families, rising to 47 million by 2027. Working families should not bear the burden of tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.

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