215 Groups Tell Congress to Reject All FY25 Poison Pills

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Dear Senators and Members of Congress,

The Clean Budget Coalition and allied organizations– an alliance of labor, scientific, consumer, research, good government, faith, civil rights, community, health, environmental, business, and public interest groups – urges you to pass FY25 appropriations bills free from policy riders that harm the public.

And as members prepare for the remaining process ahead, it is important to reflect on the FY24 appropriations negotiations. The FY24 federal budget negotiations were marred by frustrating delays that extended six months into the fiscal year, largely due to the persistent inclusion of policy riders and draconian cuts by House Majority lawmakers. This not only hindered the timely allocation of resources essential for effective government operations and vital programs for everyday Americans, but also plunged the process into a state of uncertainty and confusion as Congress narrowly avoided multiple government shutdown deadlines. The FY25 appropriations process has already been significantly delayed by similar efforts, including a last-ditch measure to attach an unnecessary, anti-immigrant, anti-democratic voter suppression bill to the most recent continuing resolution. This effort ultimately failed, only serving to further delay the process of adequately funding the government.

As you work to complete the FY25 negotiations, we ask that you learn from this recent history and again prioritize both appropriate funding levels and removing poison pill policy riders from the appropriations bills. It’s especially important to maintain solidarity in the face of an unfortunate reality: once a poison pill rider is included in an iteration of the appropriations package, it becomes almost impossible to remove it from future packages.

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

People across the nation have always opposed the abuse of the budget process to roll back public protections or create loopholes that hinder accountability. 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, oceans 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.

People across the United States deserve a 2025 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
ACLU
Act Now: End AIDS
AFL-CIO
Affordable Homeownership Foundation Inc.
African American Ministers in Action
AFSCME
AIDS Alabama
AIDS Foundation Chicago
The AIDS Institute
AIDS United
Alaska Wilderness League Action
All* Above All
American Academy of HIV Medicine
American Association for Justice
American Association of University Women
American Bird Conservancy
American Economic Liberties Project
American Federation of Teachers
American Friends Service Organization
American Rivers
American Sustainable Business Council
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Financial Reform
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Animal Wellness Action
Appliance Standards Awareness Project
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
CAER Coalition
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment
Caring Across Generations
Catholics for Choice
Center for American Progress
Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for HIV Law and Policy
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement and Research
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Responsible Lending
Center for Science in the Public Interest
CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers
Change the Chamber
Chicago Political Economy Group
Children’s Defense Fund
Church World Service
Clean Air Council
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
End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund
Elevate
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Working Group
Equality Federation
Faith in Harm Reduction
Fast-Track Cities Institute
Feeding New York State
Five Horizons Health Services
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Full Plates Full Potential
Funders Concerned About AIDS
Futures Without Violence
The Gault Center
Georgia Equality
GLSEN
GRACE/End Child Poverty CA
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace USA
Guttmacher Institute
Hawai’i Health & Harm Reduction
Harrington Investments, Inc.
HealthHIV
Hep Free Hawaii
Hispanic Federation
HIV/AIDS Alliance of Michigan
HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute
HIV Dental Alliance
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, USA-JPIC
Housing Works
The Hub Project
Human Rights Campaign
Hunger Solutions Consulting
Hunger Solutions New York
Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force
Illinois Environmental Council
Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition
The Immigration Hub
Impact Fund
Indivisible
Innovative Green Builders
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Impact Fund
Innocence Project
Innovative Green Builders
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
International Fund for Animal Welfare
James Beard Foundation
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Women International
John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute
Latino Community Development
Latino Farmers & Ranchers International, Inc
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
League of Conservation Voters
Los Padres ForestWatch
Main Street Alliance
Majority Action
Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc.
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Media Voices for Children
MomsRising
NAACP South Carolina State Conference
NASTAD
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
National Association for College Admission Counseling
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB)
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Lesbian Rights
The National Center for Health Research
The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Community Action Partnership
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
National Council of Jewish Women
National Disability Institute
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Domestic Violence Hotline
National Education Association
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 Network to End Domestic Violence
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
National WIC Association
National Women’s Health Network
National Women’s Law Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
New Jersey Association on Correction
New Progressive Alliance
Nourish California
Oceana
Ocean Conservancy
Oxfam America
P Street
PAI
Partnership for Policy Integrity
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
People’s Action
Population Connection
Poverty Project, Institute for Policy Studies
Positive Women’s Network-USA
Protect All Children’s Environment
Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
Public Citizen
Public Justice Center
Public Knowledge
Rachel Carson Council
Reproductive Freedom for All
Rural Coalition
Safe Climate Campaign
Safer Foundation
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
SEIU
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
Sierra Club
Sign Public Advocacy for Kids
South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
Springfield Food Policy Council
The Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
Start Early
Take on Wall Street
The United State of Women
Treatment Action Group
Union of Concerned Scientists
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hidalgo County Texas
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
United Church of Christ
Unrig Our Economy
URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity
U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus
U.S. PIRG
Vivent Health
Voices for Progress
Western Watersheds Project
West Virginia HIV Academic Mentoring Partnership
Wildlife Conservation Society
Womxn From the Mountain
The Wilderness Society
Woodstock Institute
Youth First Justice Collaborative