Over 1,000 Georgians Sign Letter to Congress in Opposition to Drastic Cuts
Click here to view the full letter, including signers.
March 28th, 2025
Dear Members of Georgia’s Congressional Delegation:
The budget resolution voted on in the House on February 25th would lead to Congress making drastic cuts to programs that keep children safe and healthy. Make no mistake, cuts to programs that support health care, food, housing, child care, child welfare, and economic support for families will hurt Georgia’s youngest children.
This vote directs Congress to find between $1.5 and $2 trillion in spending reductions over the next 10 years, including at least $880 billion in cuts to the House Energy and Commerce Committee (e.g., Medicaid), $230 billion in cuts to the Agriculture Committee (e.g., SNAP), and $330 billion in cuts to the Education and Workforce Committee (e.g., Head Start). It is widely understood by both Republicans and Democrats that there is little chance of achieving the required spending reductions without cutting Medicaid as well as other critical programs.
Federal dollars underpin the services upon which all Georgians—including babies and toddlers—rely. Without these dollars, more children will be food insecure, parents will be unable to work due to lack of child care, and hospitals will continue to close. The far-reaching effects will harm all Georgians and the state’s economy; however, the effects will be felt most severely by those most vulnerable, including children.
For example, millions of mothers and babies across the U.S. depend on Medicaid for their health care. In fact, Medicaid supports 46% of all births in Georgia, higher than the national average.
A vital federal and state partnership, Medicaid helps nearly half of America’s children under age 6 get the health care they need to promote healthy development. Sixty-six percent of funding for Medicaid in Georgia is financed by the federal government.1 Without strong federal support, eligible babies and families could lose access to important services, and the extra costs could push them into debt.
Similarly, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps families afford the growing cost of food, ensures the health and well-being of Georgia’s youngest children. About 213,000 children in Georgia are supported by SNAP, which provides nutrition assistance beyond what the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program can provide. Without SNAP, food insecurity will grow among many infants and toddlers — a situation that can compromise their long-term physical, mental, and emotional development.
Likewise, federal investments in early childhood education, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Head Start, IDEA (Parts B & C), and Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) programs, are essential to many families’ economic security and to children’s long-term success. They’re also integral pillars supporting Georgia’s economy. In particular:
- CCDBG is the primary funding source for over 50,000 child care scholarships in Georgia (known as the Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Program). CCDBG creates a solid foundation upon which states, including Georgia, build their own child care systems by leveraging federal funding to create and expand high-quality early learning and care opportunities beyond what is possible with state funding alone.
- Head Start is a federally funded, locally administered program that provides comprehensive services for children from families with low incomes, particularly in rural areas. One in four child care slots in rural Georgia are Head Start slots.
Child care challenges lead to at least $2.5 billion in losses in economic activity annually and an additional $132 million in lost tax revenue for Georgia.
Some Congressional leaders have indicated that these cuts are meant to counteract fraud and abuse. However, the amount of proposed cuts far outweighs any legitimate cases of fraud or abuse, which are few and far between.
Furthermore, significantly shifting funding responsibility to the states does not, on its own, address fraud and abuse. It only hurts the children and families these programs are meant to support. We all want government programs to be run efficiently and effectively; cutting essential programs that serve our youngest children and their families is not the way to achieve that goal.
One hundred thirteen Georgia organizations/businesses and 1,043 individuals urge Congress to adopt a budget that will support — not harm — Georgia’s youngest children. Congress must prioritize babies’ needs to help give them the strongest start in life and ensure a prosperous future for the state.