WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after Republicans failed to work with Democrats to pass a bipartisan government funding bill that lowers health care costs and delivers for New Mexicans.
Last Friday in Las Cruces, Heinrich underscored the threat of a Republican shutdown at a press conference with BeWell New Mexico and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. At the press conference, Heinrich highlighted how Trump’s health care crisis will worsen for New Mexicans if Republicans allow ACA premium tax credits to expire at the end of the year.
“Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have spent the last nine months driving up health care costs and fueling inflation. Now, they’ve created a new crisis: a shutdown of our federal government, which they are hell bent on making as painful as possible for American families.
“Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. If they wanted to negotiate a government funding bill, they could. But they don’t.
“This is a Trump shutdown. Full stop.
“And let’s be clear about this – the folks I know in New Mexico cannot afford the chaos Republicans are fueling.
“I know from my years on the Appropriations Committee that the only path forward is a bipartisan deal. I’m ready to get this done today. Republicans need to stop the games, come back to the table, and work with us to lower costs, protect health care, and keep our government open for the people of New Mexico.”
Background:
Appropriated federal funding expired yesterday, September 30, after Republicans failed to work with Democrats to pass a bipartisan government funding bill that serves the American people and lowers the cost of health care. By refusing to extend the enhanced Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC), which was passed into law by Heinrich and Democrats in 2021 and expires at the end of this calendar year, Republicans are driving up health insurance costs for individuals and families in New Mexico and nationwide.
Heinrich and his Democratic colleagues have made clear that they are eager to vote for a budget that helps address the harm Trump and Republicans have caused to New Mexicans, their pocketbooks, and access to health care.
Heinrich voted to pass the American Rescue Plan in 2021, which authorized initial enhancements to the premium tax credit to make health insurance more affordable for more people and increase subsidies for working, middle-income families in New Mexico. In 2022, Heinrich voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended the enhanced premium tax credit through 2025.
Heinrich cosponsors the Health Care Affordability Act of 2025 to make the enhanced Advance Premium Tax Credit permanent and build upon record health care marketplace enrollment.
For more information on how Republicans’ refusal to extend the enhanced Advanced Premium Tax Credit will harm New Mexicans, click here.
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