Pasadena’s Assemblyman Chris Holden Joins California Black Leaders to Decry President Trump’s Budget Proposal

Pasadena-area State Assemblyman Chris Holden joined other state, labor and community leaders Wednesday in a press conference by the California Legislative Black Caucus to support a resolution against President Donald Trump’s federal budget proposals.

Resolution HR 28, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, takes aim at Trump’s budget proposals related to healthcare, immigration, worker protection and their disproportionate impact on the African American community.

“For generations, federal policies like the Civil Rights Act, Educational Opportunity Grant, and most recently the Affordable Care Act, have lifted millions of black families out of poverty and provided an expansion of resources and gave them the chance to live the American Dream to the fullest,” Gipson said. “Now, all of this progress is under attack.”

Supporting the resolution, Holden called Trump’s budget proposals a “hard power” approach.

“The policies and the budget promoted by Trump will set us back creating a harsh reality for all of us, and roll back many of our hard fought gains,” Holden said.

The resolution says federal plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act would impact millions of uninsured black Californians who have incomes below the Medicaid expansion limit under the Affordable Care Act. It said 30 percent funding cuts to the Environment Protection Act (EPA) would also negatively impact poor and black communities now impacted by air pollution.

Other speakers in the press conference included Assemblymembers Shirley Weber and Kevin McCarty, Senator Holly Mitchell, Alice Huffman from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Aubry Stone from the California Black Chamber of Commerce, Yvonne Walker of the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, Dr. David Carlisle from Charles Drew University, and Dr. Ruth Shim from the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.