Following Months of Pressure from His Constituents, Rep. Lawler is Feeling the Heat on Extending Health Care Tax Credits
Congressman Lawler Has So Far Refused to Support a 3-Year Extension of the Expiring Tax Credits
HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK — Today, Congressman Mike Lawler found a new way to garner attention by lashing out at his own party leadership, calling Speaker Johnson’s refusal to hold a vote on extending the expiring health care tax credits “idiotic” and “political malpractice.” With Republican leadership standing in the way, the discharge petition for a 3-year extension—which is just four signatures shy of forcing a vote—is likely the only way to avoid a devastating health care affordability crisis before insurance premiums spike on January 1st. Unfortunately, Rep. Lawler has yet to take the actually meaningful step of supporting it, preferring to stick with hollow media appearances.
Rep. Lawler’s performative outburst follows weeks of sustained pressure from his constituents in the Hudson Valley. From holding press conferences, protests, and community forums, to sharing their personal health care stories, and signing petitions of their own, New Yorkers across the 17th Congressional District have been calling on their representative to sign the House discharge petition and force a vote on a 3-year extension of the credits.
“Speaking out and sharing my health care story was incredibly scary, but I did so in the hopes that Congressman Lawler would actually stop and listen,” said Tracey Obenauer, a disabled cancer survivor and former tax credit recipient from Pearl River. “Health care is already outrageously expensive, and the Affordable Care Act tax credits are a key lifeline for families struggling to afford the care they need. The assistance that the tax credits provided helped get me through one of the darkest periods of my life and make it out the other side. If Rep. Lawler is concerned about his constituents' well-being, he needs to sign the discharge petition and force a vote on a 3-year extension. To use his own words, anything else would be ‘political malpractice.’”
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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.
