Community Members Come Together to Tell Representative Jen Kiggans to Vote NO on Budget that Would Cut Medicaid and Other Critical Programs

Back: Bernita Richardson, Robin Lane Holton, Danielle Coughlin, Natasha Baird, Eleanor Sullivan.

Front: Diane Creekmore, Toni Cartwright-Moore

Virginia Beach, VA – This week, as Rep. Kiggans voted to support gutting Medicaid and SNAP,  constituents from across VA-02 gathered in Washington, DC with Fair Share America to call on Congress to tax billionaires and protect crucial programs for working families. Constituents know that when programs and services their communities rely on are cut, those funds are funneled to billionaires through tax loopholes.

Shortly before the critical vote for this disastrous budget resolution, constituents met with a staff member in Representative Kiggans’ Capitol Hill office. They demanded support for programs they each had a personal connection to and an end to tax breaks for billionaires. When asked if Representative Kiggans would oppose a budget that included cuts to Medicaid, the staff member stated that Kiggans was a supporter of the program – just half an hour later, she voted for a budget that would gut it.

Constituents meeting with Rep. Kiggans’ staff.

“I am the primary caretaker to both my elderly parents and my nephew – this is unpaid, essential work,” said Bernita Richardson, Virginia Beach resident. “Due to the time required to care for them, I have been unable to keep a full-time job. My nephew is partially paralyzed and has cerebral palsy. He’s eight and needs help with daily activities. My parents also have limited mobility; my mother has suffered two strokes in the last year, and my father has cancer as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. Without Medicare and Medicaid, my family wouldn’t have access to the specialists they need. I came here this week to tell Representative Kiggans to protect their healthcare and stop giving handouts to billionaires. Her vote on the budget resolution did the opposite.”

Rally with Fair Share America.

“It’s only been two months, and this administration has gutted funding for rare diseases,” said Toni Cartwright-Moore of Virginia Beach. “I lost my daughter to Sickle Cell Disease when she was just 20 years old. When she was not in the hospital for extended stays, she did her best to live life to the fullest. She had been out of the hospital just two days when she died. Sickle Cell research is among many rare diseases that are underfunded, and those who suffer from them are often stigmatized and get inferior care. Ensuring every person has access to high-quality care and that incapacitating diseases are given the consideration those who suffer from them deserve. I wish Representative Kiggans had voted to protect healthcare and against this budget that would continue to hurt families like mine.”

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