December 2023

Dear Senators and Members of Congress,

The Clean Budget Coalition – an alliance of labor, scientific, consumer, research, good government, faith, civil rights, community, health, environmental, business, and public interest groups – urges you to pass FY24 appropriations bills free from policy riders that harm the public.

No appropriations package should move forward if it contains “poison pill” policy riders that go against the public interest.

Congress must pass clean spending bills that place the focus of the federal budget and appropriations process back where it belongs: on providing ample funding and advancing the public interest. Thus far, the House majority has passed several FY24 budget bills that include draconian cuts to non-defense discretionary spending as well as hundreds of poison pill riders. These harmful budget bills include, but are not limited to, cuts to the overall funding of the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, and several agencies that protect workers’ rights.

In this pivotal moment in the appropriations process, we again ask that you prioritize both appropriate funding levels and keeping new poison pill policy riders out of the bills. And while November’s temporary funding agreement reached in Congress averted a potential government shutdown, it is now time for Congress to return to the table and begin passing appropriations bills that provide the ample resources the American people deserve.

Neither legacy riders nor new poison pills represent the will of the American people, but harmful special interest groups that wish to circumvent the legislative process through this misguided budgetary practice.

People across the nation have always opposed the abuse of the budget process to roll back public protections or create loopholes that hinder accountability. Especially as we look forward toward a post-pandemic future, the federal budget should fund priorities that Americans truly care about, not hack away at essential safeguards. The American people support policies to:

• Ensure safe and healthy food and products;
• Restrain Wall Street abuses;
• Protect our air, land, water and wildlife;
• Safeguard fair and safe workplaces;
• Guard against consumer rip-offs and corporate wrongdoing;
• Defend our campaign finance, election, and census systems, and support D.C. statehood;
• Provide access to justice and fair housing;
• Protect human and civil rights, including students’ protections and services in schools, and immigrant rights; and
• Guarantee continued access to vital health care services including comprehensive reproductive health care, among other things.

Again, the public does not support the inclusion of damaging policy riders in must-pass appropriations bills that would undo or block any of these protections, and any previously included measures doing so must be removed.

People across the United States deserve a 2024 budget that not only addresses the needs of the present but invests in a better future. For this reason, we urge Members of Congress and Senators to fully fund important public services and to reject any flawed bills that incorporate new poison pills or fail to remove the legacy riders that would undo essential public safeguards.

Sincerely,

20/20 Vision
Act Now: End AIDS
AFL-CIO
African American Ministers in Action
AFSCME
AIDS Alabama
AIDS Foundation Chicago
The AIDS Institute
AIDS United
Alaska Wilderness League Action
American Academy of HIV Medicine
American Association for Justice
American Bird Conservancy
American Economic Liberties Project
American Federation of Teachers
American Rivers
American Sustainable Business Council
Americans for Financial Reform
Animal Wellness Action
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bend the Arc Jewish Action
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Caring Across Generations
Catholics for Choice
Center for American Progress
Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for HIV Law and Policy
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Science in the Public Interest
CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers
Children’s Defense Fund
Church World Service
Clean Water Action
Climate Action Campaign
Climate Reality Chicago
Chapel Hill Organization for Clean Energy
Coalition on Human Needs
Coalition for Health Funding
Common Cause
Community Change Action
Communications Workers of America
Community Catalyst
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
DCVote
Defenders of Wildlife
Democracy 21
Drug Policy Alliance
Earthjustice
Economic Policy Institute
Endangered Species Coalition
Elevate
Environmental Working Group
Equality Federation
Fast-Track Cities Institute
Funders Concerned About AIDS
The Gault Center
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace USA
Harrington Investments, Inc.
HealthHIV
Hep Free Hawaii
Hispanic Federation
HIV/AIDS Alliance of Michigan
HIV Dental Alliance
Housing Works
Illinois Environmental Council
Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition
Impact Fund
Innovative Green Builders
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Impact Fund
Innovative Green Builders
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
League of Conservation Voters
Los Padres ForestWatch
Main Street Alliance
NASTAD
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Association for College Admission Counseling
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
National Council of Jewish Women
National Employment Law Project
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Healthcare for the Homeless Council
The National Health Law Program
National Juvenile Justice Network
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Partnership for Women & Families
National WIC Association
National Women’s Health Network
National Women’s Law Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Jersey Association on Correction
New Progressive Alliance
Ocean Conservancy
PAI
Partnership for Policy Integrity
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
People’s Action
Population Connection
Protect All Children’s Environment
Public Citizen
Public Justice Center
Public Knowledge
Rachel Carson Council
Reproductive Freedom for All
Safe Climate Campaign
SEIU
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
Sierra Club
Sign Public Advocacy for Kids
Union of Concerned Scientists
The United State of Women
Treatment Action Group
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus
U.S. PIRG
Vivent Health
Voices for Progress
Western Watersheds Project
West Virginia Hepatitis Academic Mentoring Partnership
West Virginia HIV Academic Mentoring Partnership
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wilderness Society
Woodstock Institute