Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Labor unions are continuing to join Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski to urge an end to the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and some of the spending cuts it contains. 

Members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees met with Budzinski Thursday afternoon at the AFL-CIO headquarters near the Capitol.  They say members and others are already seeing the impacts of cuts:  college students having to choose to go to class or eat, retirees needing medical care or trying to make their ends meet, and those with mental health issues not being able to get what they need.

Budzinski says she hears all of them.

“(For Republlicans), it’s about keeping a lower corporate tax rate, all on the backs of working people,” said Budzinski (D-Springfield).  “The labor movement, in particular, is feeling that full-on, all-out assault.”

For students, the proposed cuts could have devastating consequences, and not just on them.

“The law makes several changes to student loan programs, repayment plans, adds accountability earnings tests, and raises taxes on endowments,” said Amy Bodenstab, office manager at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, also president of AFSCME Local 2887.  “These changes make grants harder to get, loans more expensive and harder to repay, and caps the amounts students and families can borrow for higher education.  Additionally, earning tests will cause harm to those working in fields that need higher education, but lag behind in pay.”

For Bob Croteau of Springfield, retired from CWLP and AFSCME retiree member, it’s already meant cuts to travel and other things — thanks in part to cuts in Medicare and Medicaid.

“For example, my wife fell and had to have knee surgery,” said Croteau.  “Without Medicare, the bill would have been enough to make us homeless.  It could happen to anybody.  For a retiree whose work days are over, that’s the worst possible time for an unplanned, unaffordable expense.”

Croteau says he’s done some homework, and claims if you don’t think Medicare will be cut, because of spending increases in the bill, since many aren’t offset by new revenues, cuts are both required under federal law, and inevitable.

Budzinski says while many pieces of legislation have been filed to try and stave off some of the proposed cuts, in the ones that might be popular, the devil is in the details, since some don’t take effect until after the next election cycle, while others may eventually sunset.  So, she claims, the best thing people upset with the bill can do, is make their  voices heard at the ballot box during the 2016 midterm elections.