LAS VEGAS – AFSCME members in Nevada this week thanked Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford for fighting to stop the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The disastrous new law will have devastating consequences for working families in communities across Nevada and the rest of the nation.
The bill, which became law last month, imposes the largest cuts to Medicaid in history. It also slashes federal nutrition assistance and a range of other lifesaving programs and public services — all to give trillions of dollars in tax breaks to billionaires and rich corporations. It will rip health insurance coverage from 15 million people across the country.
AFSCME members — through our union’s Get Organized campaign — are holding accountable members of Congress who voted in favor of the law, who choose billionaires and wealthy corporations over our communities. And we’re thanking those who stood with working families.
Nevada state workers are members of AFSCME Local 4041.
“We would like to thank Congressman Horsford and Congresswoman Titus for listening to frontline state employees who are dealing with the fallout of this terrible bill,” said Delano Varner, a grounds maintenance worker. “We know they will take our experience and keep fighting for Nevadans.”
Kelly Charles, an education programs professional, talked about how cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that are in the law will hurt Nevada students.
“We can’t improve educational outcomes without the programs that support struggling families,” Charles said. “As AFSCME members, we’ll keep fighting for our kids and their education.”
Latasha Hill Burrell, a family support specialist, said the cuts to essential programs that are part of the bill are “just cruel,” especially considering the motivation behind them: to give tax cuts to billionaires and rich corporations that don’t need them.
"Every day I help hardworking families figure out how they are going to make it through another day,” she said. “Our communities are already struggling to make ends meet.”
A Nevada parole and probation supervisor, Aaron Saiz, said the law will force states “to make impossible choices.”
“When services are cut, jobs are cut, and hard-working Nevadans will be pushed out of the middle class,” he said.
Titus, who represents the state’s 1st Congressional District, called the law a “big, ugly bill” and said it will especially hurt Nevadans.
“By targeting gaming and tourism, renewable energy, affordable health care, and food assistance, it’s almost like Republicans designed a bill that uniquely hurts Nevada," she said.
Horsford, who represents the 4th Congressional District, said he was “proud to meet with AFSCME members.”
“Nevadans deserve real leadership in Washington, D.C. — leadership that protects Medicaid, SNAP, and the countless other vital programs our communities depend on,” he said.