Congressman Lawler Doesn’t Get to Take a Victory Lap—We’re In This Mess Because of Him

From Expired Tax Credits to Medicaid Cuts, Rep. Lawler’s Constituents are Paying Substantially More for Health Care Because of the Votes He Has Taken

HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK — The House of Representatives has just voted to bring back the Affordable Care Act tax credits that expired at the end of last year, but Congressman Mike Lawler doesn’t get to take a victory lap—we’re in this mess because of him. The bill still needs to get through the Senate and be signed into law. Meanwhile, thousands of his constituents are feeling the pain as they’re forced to pay hundreds of dollars more per month in higher insurance premiums.

New Yorkers were already dealing with a health care affordability crisis, made worse by Rep. Lawler’s vote to cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding and raise health care costs on working families. Despite months of sustained pressure from his constituents, Congressman Lawler refused to act to save the health care tax credits until it was too late. Now it’s his responsibility to fix the crisis that he created.

“Because Mike Lawler stood by and did nothing until it was already too late, we’ll be paying almost $10,000 more for our health insurance this year,” said Karen M., a resident of Peekskill who had relied on the tax credits to afford her insurance premiums. “We were already struggling to afford our care before the premium increase. Now, I don’t know what we’re going to do. This is a disaster of Congressman Lawler’s own making, and it was entirely preventable. He could have stepped in and gotten the discharge petition over the line before the tax credits expired, but he sat on his hands, and now the people of his district are paying the price. He doesn’t get to just vote for this bill and walk away. He owns this crisis, and he needs to see it set right."

To learn more about Empire State Voices, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org

###
 

About Empire State Voices 

Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.