FY 23 Approps Should Be Free From Poison Pill Policy Riders

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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 FY 23 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. Unfortunately, such poison pill riders have existed as favors to corporate and special interests in previous appropriations cycles and therefore a set of “legacy poison pills” must be removed from the FY 23 appropriations bill or continuing resolution.

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. We ask that you make it a priority to keep out new policy riders that would harm the public and remove legacy riders that have been embedded in previous appropriations bills.

These legacy riders do not represent the will of the American people, but harmful special interest groups that wish to circumvent the legislative process through this misguided budgetary practice. It is long past time for these riders to be removed.

And as FY 23 negotiations continue to proceed, our Coalition finds significant issue with the contents of the Continuing Resolution currently being discussed by Congressional leaders. While a short-term temporary stopgap may be necessary to halt an impeding government shutdown, any stopgap budgetary measure should also be free of toxic policy riders. Now is no time to move backwards.

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, services in schools and immigrant rights;
  • 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 2023 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 fail to remove poison pill policy riders that would undo essential public safeguards.

Sincerely,

20/20 Vision

AFL-CIO

African American Ministers in Action

AFSCME

Alaska Wilderness League Action

American Association for Justice

American Bird Conservancy

American Federation of Teachers

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

Catholics for Choice

Center for American Progress

Center for Biological Diversity

The Center of Law and Social Policy

Center for Reproductive Rights

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Clean Water Action

Chapel Hill Organization for Clean Energy

Coalition on Human Needs

Coalition for Health Funding

Common Cause

Communications Workers of America

Consumer Action

Consumer Federation of America

DCVote

Defenders of Wildlife

Democracy 21

Earthjustice

Endangered Species Coalition

The Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental Working Group

GreenLatinos

Greenpeace USA

Harrington Investments, Inc.

Humane Society Legislative Fund

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 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

NARAL Pro-Choice America

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 Low Income Housing Coalition

National Partnership for Women & Families

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

Safe Climate Campaign

SEIU

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States

Sierra Club

Union of Concerned Scientists

The United State of Women

United Steelworkers

U.S. PIRG

Voices for Progress

Western Watersheds Project

The Wilderness Society

Woodstock Institute