Please take 2 minutes today to ask your officials to oppose the proposed $3 trillion in federal budget cuts. If Congress moves forward with its current proposed budget resolution, these cuts will significantly impact behavioral health services, psychology training programs, critical scientific research and the communities that psychologists support.

It is critical that lawmakers hear from you. Draconian cuts to   Medicaid, nutrition assistance programs, student loan programs, and other programs vital to psychology and public well-being will be debated in Congress in coming days. Such cuts would decimate under-resourced populations. Instead, Congress must continue investing in these essential programs, which millions of Americans depend on. 

These proposed cuts would set back the progress made to date to address the nation’s mental health crisis, and severely weaken the population health approach necessary for supporting community well-being. The Budget Resolution would: 

• Limit access to psychology degrees. Proposed changes to federal student loan programs would further decrease degrees’ affordability, exacerbating the nationwide shortages of qualified behavioral health providers, particularly in rural communities.
• Endanger the financial stability of vulnerable communities, such as people with disabilities and low-income families. It would do so by cutting off nutrition aid these communities rely upon to feed themselves, and other safety net programs. Reducing their access to food and other essential resources would harm the mental and physical health of the communities that psychologists and their allies work with and live in. 
• Threaten behavioral health services offered through Medicaid. Medicaid is the single largest source of coverage for behavioral health services. Without access to those services, many low-income children, adults, and families — including, but not limited to, those with disabilities — would lose access to life-saving mental, behavioral, and substance-use disorder treatment.

Please do not sit this one out! Speak up today to protect important programs that families and individuals rely upon for their well-being, livelihoods and security.

Logistical notes so you can participate successfully:

• This tool will automatically identify and match you to your elected officials once you enter your address. However, it cannot match P.O. boxes to Congressional offices, so please enter a street address.
• Some offices may require a phone number - you will get an on-screen alert if so.
• If you are a first-time user or entered a different email address than before, VoterVoice might give you an extra step. This is an internet security measure. A window will appear, saying that it sent a code to that email address. Please check your spam folder if you do not get the code within 5 minutes. You will be able to send your message once you enter the code. If you check the "remember me" box, this will not occur again.
• A small number of Senate offices have limitations on message length. If your office is one of them, you will get a notification on the screen and will be able to edit the message before sending it.
• This platform allows users to enter the prefix of their choosing. However, congressional offices vary in terms of what prefixes their mail systems accept. If you see a notification regarding your prefix, it is due to one of the receiving congressional offices' inbox settings. Please contact that office directly to ask them to update what prefixes their mailing system accepts, as this request will be more meaningful coming from a constituent. Their website will list contact information.