With
the threat of a government shutdown looming, a coalition representing
3,200 organizations looking to stave off cuts to public services threw
its support behind an alternative, short-term spending plan Thursday put
forth by U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD, 8), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
Van Hollen's proposal would replace the sequester for fiscal year 2014 through a "balanced approach" of spending cuts, including slashes to agriculture and oil company subsidies, and revenue increases. It would fund the government through November 15 at the level laid out in the Budget Control Act of 2011, or $1.058 trillion.
NDD
United, which represents the organizations invested in education,
public health and other interests, called Van Hollen's proposal a "step
in the right direction" in the continuing effort to end sequestration
for good.
“Of course we should ensure that our government
continues getting funded, and of course we should avoid anything that
makes the pain of the sequester permanent. The question is, will
lawmakers make the hard choices required to end the next nine years of
sequester’s harmful cuts,” asked NDD United Co-Chair Emily Holubowich, the executive director of Coalition for Health Funding, in a statement.
Read more »
Six Democratic members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation had a perfect voting record in 2013 on legislation important to people living in poverty, according to 
With Social Security reform on the table during congressional budget talks to reduce federal
spending, about a
dozen protesters, most of which were retirees, gathered in downtown
Chicago Thursday to call on Congress to reject proposals that
“balance the budget on the backs of seniors.”
With
the threat of a government shut down just days away, U.S. Reps. Rob
Andrews (D, NJ-1) and Chris Van Hollen (D, MD-8) blasted House
Republicans on Friday for voting for a 
Some 
