FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2025
Contact: Ashley Sullivan, 1(917) 837-1183, Ashley.Sullivan@weact.org
WASHINGTON – Today, following the Senate narrowly passing a reconciliation budget bill that both blatantly fails and hurts the majority of people across the country, the House now continues to ram this dangerous bill forward. WE ACT continues to condemn the cruel, disastrous contents of the bill. It is a direct assault on our health, everyday working-class expenses, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and precious clean energy opportunities. It is also an undeniable giveaway to corporate polluters who are selling our lives and future – particularly the lives of those most impacted in communities of color and low-income.
The consequences of this bill will be felt in every home, especially in our New York community where hundreds of thousands will be left hungry without the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Without medical insurance coverage, millions more are being put at risk. As New Yorkers deal with the highest rates of asthma in the country, hundreds of thousands in our communities will suffer. As we enter extreme heat season people will certainly die, especially as heating and cooling relief staffing was gutted and with the NY HEAP program ending on just the third day of summer. Already unaffordable bills will continue to increase across the country, with New York families having to pay at least $300 more per year per household. New York State will also have to cover $2 billion annually in a budget shortfall, forcing decisions that will leave our overburdened communities with even less support, and more harm.
Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, shares this response:
“The actions taken to pass the most disgraceful, destructive bill in modern history will be remembered to keep leaders accountable, and to remind us to never stop pushing for progress and justice. The bill is an obvious attack on our collective historic, real, beneficial progress. The same grassroots, people-powered mobilization to address environmental injustices, protect vulnerable people, reduce deadly polluting sources, and tackle the climate crisis are still here – and only getting stronger. As this may take us steps back, our footing is always towards justice and that’s where we will land.”
“Despite the level of injury this bill will cause to low-income and communities of color in New York and communities around the country who will lose essential healthcare, be made sicker, continue to be targeted, and live with the broken promises of long-needed investments, some lines were held due to serious outcry. It shows that our voices must continue to rise. We demand that our tax dollars be used to improve our well-being and address unfair systems. This is not the end and we will keep our march towards justice.”
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WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan-based, membership-driven organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents are meaningfully included in the development of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.