The contrast in state leadership could not be clearer as the disastrous GOP budget law takes effect and hurts communities nationwide
WASHINGTON — Today, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) hosted a press conference with New York Senate President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader and DLCC Chair Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, and Pennsylvania Senator Vincent Hughes on how states are bracing for the impact of Republicans’ disastrous budget law and how state Democrats are demonstrating leadership on behalf of their constituents in statehouses across the country.
The DLCC “States of Play” presser series will continue with state legislative leaders from across the country responding to the extremism in DC.
Watch the press conference here.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams:
- We have elected Democrats at the state legislative level in all 50 states, in many Republican congressional districts, and what we are seeing is that it is state legislators that are standing up for these communities. They are holding town halls. They are meeting with community groups. They are meeting with constituents shared with a Republican member of Congress, ensuring that these community members, that these voters, that these constituents, have a place to take their concerns.
- Republicans can do what they want to try to hide from the impact that they have had, but we are not going to let them. They are going to be held accountable, and these communities are still going to have someone who is looking out for them in their Democratic leadership at the state level.
- While Congress was at work destroying this country, we at this ballot level have had elections […] In all of these specials across the country, in all kinds of communities, red, blue, urban, rural, purple, etc., Democrats have been overperforming by an average of 10 points.
New York Senate President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader and DLCC Chair Andrea Stewart-Cousins:
- What we’re facing is not just another partisan budget out of Washington. It’s an assault on working families, and the burden is falling squarely on the states to clean it up.
- Every single New York Republican in Congress, every single one of them voted yes [on this budget bill]. Not one stood up for their constituents. They all voted yes. They stayed silent. They chose their party over their people…. Here in Albany, we’ve taken a different path. Senate Democrats have protected and expanded health care access, lowered prescription drug costs, increased funding for safety net hospitals, and we’ve ensured reproductive freedom is a right, not a privilege. We fought to protect working families.
- I’ve got seven congresspeople in New York who said nothing while we are in this mess that they frankly helped create. I’ve been in spaces where some of my congressmen come and say, ‘Well, it could have been much worse. We stopped it from being worse.’ I don’t want to give people credit for stopping horrible things. […] So for you to say, ‘Well, we’re only going to throw off 17 million people, as opposed to everybody.’ I don’t believe it’s success, and I don’t believe that anyone should be able to hide from the kind of horror that they’re visiting upon their constituents.
- We have so much at stake that we cannot afford to miss this moment – to call attention to all of the things that are happening, and to give people a viable alternative, which is in the state legislatures. Vote for people who will work to save the American dream, our lives, our education, our health and our possibilities.
Nevada Speaker of the Assembly Steve Yeager:
- Now we get to this so-called reconciliation bill, which really should be called the screw the states bill, because that’s exactly what it does, not just for Nevada, but for states around the country.
- And perhaps the most disappointing of all for me is, as we went through session, and we had hearings about this bill, my Republican colleagues didn’t ask a single question, didn’t raise a single objection. They preference billionaires and tax cuts over the constituents that they serve. So here in Nevada, we are going to have it in a tough way, but I will tell you what I am going to fight each and every day to make sure that every single voter who goes to the ballot box here next year in 2026 knows about this bill and knows about the impact, because it is simply unacceptable.
- A budget really is a statement of values. You want to know where people’s values lie, you look where they put their money. Because it’s one thing to say something out loud but it’s another thing to place resources there. And when you’re looking at this, again, this screw the states bill, I would challenge you to show me in that bill where the money is put towards making America healthier. In fact, it is the opposite. It is taking money from programs that keep people healthy, either personally or through community options, and basically giving it to the wealthiest in this country who already have the means to access anything they might need to access.
Pennsylvania Senator Vincent Hughes:
- Republican state legislators and state senators are wholly complicit in the travesty that has taken place in Washington, DC. Their absolute silence all across the country, not speaking the truth to their congressional colleagues or their US senators, not speaking that truth to those individuals puts them in lock stock in support of the budgetary tragedy.
- Republican legislators, Republican senators, Republican congresspeople made a conscious choice. Now what we have to do, and what DLCC is very good at helping us do, is articulate that option to voters across the country. Do you want someone who will work on your behalf, who will fight for you? Or do you want someone who’s already proven that they will take the help that you need and take it from you?
- There’s a message there that’s bubbling up from the grassroots, that people want folks who are going to fight for them and not want folks who are going to cut the kinds of things that they need and they survive on. And […] our job at DLCC is to make sure that we remind everybody of what exactly happened, and in fact, is that we as Democratic leaders and Democratic legislators stand for helping people, not hurting people – improving folks lives, not making their lives more difficult – expanding health care, not cutting health care.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the official Democratic Party committee dedicated to winning America’s state legislatures and building state infrastructure. Over the last decade, we have fought cycle-over-cycle to gain a dozen new legislative chamber majorities and we are leading the effort to bring national attention and investment to our ballot level. State legislatures are the building blocks of our democracy and have the closest connections to Americans’ day-to-day lives. From protecting fundamental freedoms and voting rights to growing the middle class, the DLCC and state legislators are moving the Democratic agenda forward and shaping the future of this country.
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