The federal House of Representatives this week passed a budget resolution that takes away health care and food assistance from millions of low-income Americans and gives that money to millionaires. It eliminates many clean energy credits and increases the machinery of deportation. It restricts the authority of federal courts to hold government officials in contempt when they violate court orders. "Economist Robert Reich points out that Americans making between about $17,000 and $51,000 will lose about $700 a year. On average, Americans with incomes of less than $17,000 will lose more than $1,000 a year. But if you are among the top 0.1% of earners, you’re in luck: you’ll gain nearly $390,000 a year." (Heather Cox Richardson May 22)
FAN, alongside many of our denominational partners, has been advocating against this amoral budget through phone calls, letters, postcards, and meetings with Representatives. This bill is not yet law. It still needs to go through the Senate, which is expected to take the next month. While we know we must continue to speak against this robbing of the poor to give to the rich, we also recognize that we and so many in our Network and communities are grieving, outraged, uncertain or terrified. We need space for healing and relief and gathering community.
We look to the many in our faith traditions and beyond who have faced challenges like this before, who prayed, danced, resisted, offered refuge, sang, and disobeyed. We invite you to join us and each other in our summits on June 1 to do a bit of that together, in addition to celebrating the critical state legislation and budget wins we did achieve. We will keep walking together, calling for budgets that reflect moral values, for democracy centered on the common good, and for a future where all can thrive. | 
