Recess Week Call-to-Action — Call your House Rep with 2 important messages!

Your House Representative is back in NJ this week. Call your rep to demand support for the Election Assistance Commission and protection for federal healthcare subsidies! Not sure who your House Representative is? Find out here.

 

In February, the House Committee on House Administration voted to move forward on a bill (HR 634) that would terminate the Election Assistance Commission, an independent bipartisan commission tasked with certifying voting system technology, accrediting the labs that test voting equipment, and providing technical guidance for running elections, among other responsibilities.

Why is this a bad idea?

• First, America’s electronic voting machines are in terrible shape. In the most recent election, 43 states used voting machines at least 10 years old (near the end of their expected lifespan), greatly increasing the risk of machine failure or crashes, which could lead to long lines or worse — lost votes.
• As if that wasn’t enough, our voting system is now at risk of being hacked by foreign powers like Russia, which targeted more than 20 state election systems in 2016, successfully breaching voter registration systems in four states.

Given these conditions, we need the Election Assistance Commission now more than ever. Thirty eight different pro-democracy organizations have denounced the idea of getting rid of the EAC.  Call your House Representative today and tell them to vote no on HR 634!

In the same call, you can leave your House representative another important message: protect federal healthcare subsidies! Last week, the president threatened to withhold federal subsidies that fuel the ACA as a means of forcing Democrats to agree to work on another healthcare-repeal bill.

Why is this a bad idea?

• These federal subsidies fund cost-sharing reductions for 7 million Americans and their insurers, making it possible for low-income people to afford out-of-pocket and prescription costs, and for insurance providers to offer them coverage at lower rates.
• Without these subsidies, insurance providers will be forced to increase premiums.
• The loss of these subsidies could even lead to the collapse of insurance markets in certain areas.

Organizations representing doctors, hospitals, Chambers of Commerce, and even insurers have joined together to call for the continuation of federal subsidies for cost-sharing reductions. Call your House representative, especially if he or she is Republican, and demand protection for these subsidies and for healthcare! It is especially important to call if you are a constituent of Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11), who chairs the House Appropriations committee, and Frank Pallone (D-6) and Leonard Lance (R-7), members of the Energy and Commerce Committee chaired by Republican Greg Waldman (OR), who supports funding the subsidies.

DON’T FORGET: This is a 2-in-1 action — call your House representative and urge them to protect the EAC by voting NO on HR 634, and demand that they protect federal healthcare subsidies for cost-sharing reductions!

 

LEARN MORE

• About HR 634
• About the groups opposing HR 634 and why they oppose it
• From the Atlantic Monthly about the EAC and HR 634
• About the President’s threat to end federal subsidies for healthcare cost-sharing reductions
• About why we need federal subsidies for cost-sharing reductions