{"id":1250,"date":"2025-05-30T16:54:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainepeoplesalliance.org\/?p=1250"},"modified":"2025-05-30T16:54:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:54:51","slug":"veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainepeoplesalliance.org\/veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans urge Collins: Protect health care, not billionaires\u2019 bank accounts!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">May 28, 2025<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Veterans, advocates call on Collins: Protect Mainers\u2019 access to health care and nutrition \u2013 not billionaires\u2019 bank accounts!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHAT<\/strong>: Stand-up presser to encourage Sen. Susan Collins to use her vote and her power on the Appropriations committee to stand up for veterans and other Mainers\u2019 health care and food assistance, and stand against huge tax breaks for billionaires and rich corporations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHEN<\/strong>: Weds, May 28, 11am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHERE<\/strong>: Street in front of Sen. Collins\u2019 Bangor office, 202 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHO<\/strong>: Speakers include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Adam Toothaker (he\/him), president, Veterans for Peace Maine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Garrett Martin (he\/him), President and CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Camden Ador (they\/them), MTS, veteran, Bangor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Megan Smith (she\/her), Bangor-area community organizer, Maine People\u2019s Alliance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WHY<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, the House voted to pass historic tax breaks for billionaires and rich corporations, and to pay for it by slashing critical programs, especially Medicaid. This bill will soon go to the Senate \u2013 and it\u2019s vital that Sen. Collins use her power and influence in that chamber to fight against it. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mecep.org\/blog\/federal-budget-recap-house-trades-food-security-and-health-care-for-billionaire-tax-cuts-in-one-big-ugly-bill\/?link_id=0&amp;can_id=e97e876071aaf08f1c19416ae5b170e8&amp;source=email-wednesday-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts-2&amp;email_referrer=&amp;email_subject=today-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts&amp;&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">huge reconciliation bill<\/a>\u00a0will eliminate health care coverage and food assistance for millions of Americans, and cut more than a trillion dollars from health coverage and food aid. The Senate is likely to take up the bill after the Memorial Day recess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, the Department of Veterans Affairs is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/may\/23\/veterans-affairs-doge-musk?link_id=1&amp;can_id=e97e876071aaf08f1c19416ae5b170e8&amp;source=email-wednesday-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts-2&amp;email_referrer=&amp;email_subject=today-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts&amp;&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in crisis<\/a>\u00a0thanks to canceled contracts, hiring freezes, resignations, layoffs and other moves by the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration?link_id=2&amp;can_id=e97e876071aaf08f1c19416ae5b170e8&amp;source=email-wednesday-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts-2&amp;email_referrer=&amp;email_subject=today-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts&amp;&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/elon-musk?link_id=3&amp;can_id=e97e876071aaf08f1c19416ae5b170e8&amp;source=email-wednesday-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts-2&amp;email_referrer=&amp;email_subject=today-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts&amp;&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0Elon Musk<\/a>\u2019s so-called \u201cdepartment of government efficiency\u201d (Doge). Nearly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.data.va.gov\/stories\/s\/NCVAS-State-Summary-Maine-FY2023\/k94w-kssb\/?link_id=4&amp;can_id=e97e876071aaf08f1c19416ae5b170e8&amp;source=email-wednesday-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts-2&amp;email_referrer=&amp;email_subject=today-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts&amp;&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">55,000 Mainers<\/a>\u00a0are enrolled in the VA health care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More information on the ways the federal reconciliation bill will hurt Mainers (also,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dhhs\/sites\/maine.gov.dhhs\/files\/inline-files\/DHHS%20Impact%20Summary_Medicaid-SNAP-Marketplace_May2025.pdf?link_id=5&amp;can_id=e97e876071aaf08f1c19416ae5b170e8&amp;source=email-wednesday-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts-2&amp;email_referrer=&amp;email_subject=today-bangor-veterans-urge-collins-protect-health-care-not-billionaires-bank-accounts&amp;&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DHHS impact statement<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Up to 34,000 Mainers could lose Medicaid coverage, and 31,000 could lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Most of the people who will lose their coverage won\u2019t lose it because they aren\u2019t eligible. They\u2019ll lose it by getting buried under mountains of red tape and relentless bureaucratic requirements. It also ends help for low-income seniors on Medicare, blocks access to gender-affirming care, and cuts access to basic health care services including cancer screenings offered by Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It will create an almost $190 million hole in our state budget: $90 million penalty for covering immigrant children, pregnant and postpartum people; $97 million to cover the cost of SNAP<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>####<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>With more than 32,000 members, MPA is the largest community\u00a0organization in Maine, and one of the largest in the country. We work together on issues that include but are not limited to housing, care, climate change and environmental justice, health care access, racial justice, and immigrant rights<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>####<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact: Nora Flaherty-Stanford,&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:nora@mainepeoplesalliance.org\">nora@mainepeoplesalliance.org<\/a>, (207) 370-8314<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 28, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Veterans urge Collins: Protect health care, not billionaires\u2019 bank accounts! 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