FY 23 Approps Should Be Free From Poison Pill Policy Riders
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