FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 12, 2018

Contact: Sarah Schultz, sarah.schultz@younginvincibles.org, 202.734.6510

[Washington]– Today, the Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal. The document explicitly endorses the failed Graham-Cassidy health care proposal from last year, which would dramatically cut financial assistance and increase the number of uninsured by tens of millions. The budget would also dismantle Medicaid as we know it by block granting the program and erecting onerous barriers to coverage.

Regarding higher education, this budget makes loan repayment more difficult for an enormous number of students by eliminating Public Service Loan Forgiveness, raising monthly loan payments, and lengthening the time for income-based loan forgiveness for graduate students to 30 years. It also eliminates programs that help increase postsecondary access and affordability like Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and subsidized loans, and cuts hundreds of millions of dollars from Federal Work Study, a key program that provides students with opportunities to gain experience and make money that can defer college costs.

Finally, the budget doubles down on a divisive approach to immigration, by couching a possible solution for DREAMers in billions more in spending on an unpopular wall and harsh enforcement demands that do nothing to address the DACA crisis.

Overall, the President’s budget proposes double-digit funding cuts to the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor, undermining the financial future of young adults.

“The Trump FY19 budget flies in the face of the bipartisan budget deal Congress agreed to, and the President signed, just last week,” said Young Invincibles’ Government Affairs Director, Reid Setzer. “Rather than seeking ways to invest in our generation, this Administration continues to focus on policy choices that would leave young people less healthy, less educated, and more financially insecure. We look forward to working with Congress as they set this proposal aside and move forward with the FY18 and FY19 appropriations and budgeting processes.”