260 Groups Oppose Ideological Riders, Call for Clean Budget This Year
Nov. 4, 2016 | Download PDF
Dear President Obama and Members of Congress,
We, the 260 undersigned organizations, write to ask you to oppose any FY 2017 omnibus or minibus funding packages that include harmful ideological policy riders and urge you to finish the budget package this year.
Budget bills have been used before to undermine essential safeguards through policy riders – provisions that address extraneous policy issues, and are slipped into funding bills to win approval as part of must-pass funding legislation. Last year, hundreds of these policy provisions were proposed as a part of the omnibus process, and in this year’s budget process, some members of Congress have already insisted on ideological riders.
Ideological riders are measures that the public opposes, and that the president would likely veto as standalone legislation. The American people support policies to restrain Wall Street abuses and ensure safe and healthy food and products, to protect our air, land, water and wildlife, to ensure safe and fair workplaces, to prevent consumer rip-offs and corporate wrongdoing, to create fair rules of the road for our campaign finance system, to provide access to justice, and to ensure continued access to vital health care services.
Ideological riders are intended to advance the priorities of special interests, and they have become the “new earmarks.” However, in many ways, they are actually far worse than the old district-specific earmarks, because they have vastly greater reach and nationwide consequences for the American people.
We urge members of Congress to oppose flawed funding proposals that include ideological policy riders and to finish this budget this year. We further urge the administration in the strongest possible terms to oppose any funding bills that have such riders before signing any final FY17 funding package.
Sincerely,
9to5, National Association of Working Women
A Community Voice – Louisiana
ABG Consulting LLC
Ability Chicago Info
Access Center for Independent Living
Action for Boston Community Development
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Agnes’ Arms Foundation
AIDS Alabama, Inc.
Alaska Wilderness League
Alfred E. Smith Resident Association
Alliance of Cambridge Tenants (ACT)
American Association for Justice
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Americans for Financial Reform
Annabelle Foundation
Antioch Urban Ministries, Inc. dba Matthew’s Place
Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey
ANU-CHANCE Ministry
Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura
Arizona Housing Alliance
Auburn Housing Authority
Barb Lamphere Consulting
Berrien County HRN
Bibleway Community Action
Blueprints Consulting, LLC
Bucks County Housing Development Corporation
Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition
Burns Tenant Council
Butler Perez Associates
California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund
CARE 66
CASA of Oregon
Catholic Community Services
CCBHC, Santa Ana, CA
Celebrate Outreach
Center for American Progress
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Independent Living Options
Center for Progressive Reform
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc.
Century 21 Hometown Realty
Charleston Housing Authority
Chicago Consumer Coalition
Church Women United in New York State
Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, New York
Clarksburg-Harrison Regional Housing Authority
Clean Water Action
Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio
Coalition on Human Needs
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Comite de Bienestar
Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws
Community Alliance of Tenants
Community and Shelter Assistance Corp.
Community Frameworks
Community Housing Fund
Community Justice Project
Community Stabilization Project
Connecticut Housing Coalition
Consumer Action
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Orange Co.
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers for Auto Reliability & Safety
Conversant Consulting
Cornerstone Associates
Cornerstone Housing Inc.
Corporate Accountability International
CREDO
Crescent Manor
Defenders of Wildlife
Democracy 21
Disabled In Action of Metropolitan NY
Eastern Eight Community Development Corporation
Economic Policy Institute Policy Center
Empire State Consumer Project
Empower Missouri
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Investigation Agency
Episcopal Retirement Services Affordable Living
Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana
Family Emergency Shelter Coalition (FESCO)
Farmers Union Senior Housing
FESCO Family Shelter
First & Franklin Presbyterian Church
Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection
Florida Supportive Housing Coalition
Free Press Action Fund
Freeport Housing Trust
Friends of the Earth
Funders Together to End Homelessness
Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness
Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness
Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center
Greater Syracuse Tenants Network
Greenpeace
Grounded Solutions Network
Grow San Francisco
Habitat for Humanity Chicago
Habitat for Humanity of Gallatin Valley
Habitat for Humanity of New York State
Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake
Habitat for Humanity Virginia
HACSA
Hancock Resource Center
Homeless & Housing Coalition of Kentucky
Homeless Solutions, Inc.
Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings
Homestead Affordable Housing, Inc.
Homeword
Housing Action Illinois
Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey
Housing Authority of Maysville
Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, Missouri
Housing Authority of the City of Nevada, Missouri
Housing Authority of the City of Pocatello
Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara
Housing Works Rhode Island
Inner City Law Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Innovative Green Builders & WDT Development, LLC
Innovative Housing Solutions
Integra Home Counseling, Inc.
Interfaith Emergency Shelter Network
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
JCTOD Outreach, Inc. dba Johnson Park Center (JPC)
Jericho Project
JOIN Development
JOVIS
Kauai Habitat for Humanity, Inc.
Kentucky Equal Justice Center
KY Senior Citizens Apartments
Lafayette Habitat for Humanity
Lake County Crisis Center
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights
League of Conservation Voters
Lexington Community Land Trust
Main Street Alliance
Maine Affordable Housing Coalition
Many Mansions
Marine Conservation Institute
Maryland United for Peace and Justice
Massachusetts Consumers Council
Meals on Wheels of Lehigh County
Metrocare Services
Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, Nashville, TN
Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness
Michigan Disability Housing Workgroup
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center
Miriam’s Kitchen
Monarch Housing Associates
Motivation Community Development
Muscatine Municipal Housing Agency
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association for College Admission Counseling
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Association of Social Workers
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Council of Jewish Women
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Partnership for Women & Families
National WIC Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Neighbor Works Umpqua
Neighborhood Development Associates
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Jersey Association on Correction
New Jim Crow Movement
New Level Community Development Corporation
New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness
Newtown Action Alliance
Nixon Peabody
Oakland Tenants Union
Ohio CDC Association
Orange County United Way
Organization Name
Park Ridge Housing Initiative
Patriotic Millionaires
Pennsylvania National Organization for Women
People For the American Way
Peoples Action
People’s Self-Help Housing, Inc.
PLACE
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Pleasant View Gardens Resident Council
Plymouth Housing Group
Positive Reset Mental Health
Progressive City
Project Live, Inc.
Properties Of Colorado
Protect All Children’s Environment
Providence Housing Corporation
Public Citizen
Public Justice
Public Justice Center
Public Knowledge
Rebuilding Together Central Ohio
Redding Pilgrim House
Retirement Housing Foundation
Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless
ROSE Community Development
Saad & Saad LLP
San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation
Seattle Human Services Coalition
SEIU
Sierra Club
Sitka Community Land Trust
Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity
Sound Thinking LLC
Southern Indiana Center for Independent Living
Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium
Springfield Housing Authority
St Ambrose of Woodbury Social Justice Committee
States United to Prevent Gun Violence
Summit Independent Living
Tenants Union of Washington State
The Arc
The Arc of North Carolina
The Arc: Community Advocates
The Architects Collective
The Bright Lines Project
The Family Place
The Haven
The Housing Assistance Corporation
The Housing Authority of the City of Blue Ridge; Blue Ridge, GA
The Kitchen, Inc.
The Summit Group
The Wilderness Society
The Wishcamper Companies, Inc.
Toledo Area Jobs with Justice & Interfaith Worker Justice Coalition
Town of Hamburg, New York
Twin Pines Housing Trust
U.S. PIRG
Union of Concerned Scientists
Union United
United Steelworkers
United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities
Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition
Virginia Housing Alliance
Voices for Progress
Walker County Coalition for the Homeless
Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
Washtenaw County Community Mental Health
Wayne Smith & Associates
Westbrook Development Corporation
Wichita Habitat for Humanity
Wild River Realty, Inc.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Winterberg Real Estate
Workplace Fairness
YWCA – Greater Capital Region
