AFSCME members, working Marylanders send message to Congress: No public service cuts to pay for billionaire tax breaks

SILVER SPRING, MD – Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, AFSCME President Lee Saunders and AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran joined AFSCME members – the public service workers who keep Maryland running – for a town hall where they discussed Congress’ plan to cut public services to pay for billionaire tax cuts, which attendees said will harm their families and devastate their communities.

Almost 30 percent of Maryland’s total revenue comes from federal funding – with a significant portion of that funding supporting Medicaid for low-income workers, children, people with disabilities, veterans and senior citizens. Participants at today’s town hall warned that if this funding is cut, essential public services from education to health care to infrastructure will be on the chopping block, impacting all Marylanders. Congress’ proposed budget would leverage these drastic cuts to pay for massive billionaire tax breaks. Research has proven that the 2017 tax law – which their existing plan continues – overwhelmingly benefitted the rich and did almost nothing to help working families. Working people in attendance called on their representatives to fight to protect their public services, not billionaire’s wealth.

Rep. Jamie Raskin said:

“In the 21st century, there’s no labor movement without democracy and there’s no democracy without the labor movement. What a pleasure to join constitutional patriots — AFSCME International President Lee Saunders, Maryland President Patrick Moran and their members — for a conversation on how Trump and MAGA’s cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are a betrayal of American democracy and will devastate our families. We won’t rest until government is restored as an instrument for the good of the working-class majority, not the theocrats, kleptocrats and oligarchs.”

AFSCME President Lee Saunders said:

“Council 3 members always show up – and when you show up, you’re engaged, fired up, and ready to go. That’s important, because today we need your energy and activism more than ever. What we are witnessing is Project 2025 come to life. These billionaires are determined to kill our jobs, crush our freedoms, and raid public services to enrich themselves. And let’s face it: too many in Congress are doing their bidding. We can’t let Congress line the pockets of the rich and force working families to pay the price. We have to fight back. And that’s exactly what we’re doing with AFSCME GO: our Get Organized campaign.”

AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran said:

“We are grateful to have leaders like Congressman Jamie Raskin who are standing up for Maryland’s working people in the face of continuous attacks on our civil service and the essential public services our communities rely on. Our communities can’t afford to see worsening staff shortages, unsafe workplaces, and longer wait times, and our union will do everything we can to fight for our jobs, our rights, and our public services.”

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AFSCME's 1.4 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in communities across the nation, serving in hundreds of different occupations — from nurses to corrections officers, childcare providers to sanitation workers — AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and freedom and opportunity for all working families.