The Republicans have finalized a Budget Reconciliation bill that is designed to pay for nearly $1 trillion in tax credits for businesses and to add new tax relief for some taxpayers. Together, three House Committees produced cuts to existing mandatory spending programs to pay for the final package. Specifically, $350 billion will come from education by changing student loan program rules, limiting access to Pell Grants for low-income students (including students with disabilities), ending interest subsidies for undergraduates while they are in school, revamping loan repayment plans, and rolling back a range of accountability regulations. The biggest ‘pay-for’ will come from Medicaid, which has been cut by more than $800 billion. Other cuts were made to the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and to clean energy programs. The final bill would also add $20 billion in new funding that would provide tax credits to individuals who donate to “a scholarship-granting organization,” which then provides up to $5000 annually through a ‘funded’ voucher to use for tuition, books, online education, and more. Families making more than three hundred percent of the local gross median income do not qualify. While language was added to this provision, which references students with disabilities and access to “equitable services” (which is a provision of current law), the bill does not add any new protections for children with disabilities who may qualify and seek to attend a private school. As written, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that 7.6 million people will be cut from Medicaid, which also adds new work requirements, ends eligibility and enrollment rules for dually eligible individuals who already qualify due to disability, freezes payments to states for certain types of care (including some home based services), mandates cost-sharing on enrollees with very low incomes and more. COPAA, along with disability and education advocates, have opposed the bill due to the drastic cuts to Medicaid as well as the addition of the education voucher mechanism.

ACT NOW: Congress is expected to vote THIS WEEK on the budget reconciliation bill. Please TAKE ACTION TODAY. Tell Congress to protect students with disabilities and reject the House Budget Reconciliation bill.