April 10, 2025

Washington, DC (April 10, 2025) – Today, moments after the House narrowly passed the GOP Budget Resolution, Fair Share America brought together members of Congress and nearly 500 people who traveled to DC from more than 30 states to stand up for working people and demand tax fairness.

Today’s rally kicked off the next phase of the 2025 budget and tax fight—with Fair Share America building pressure from the bottom up through grassroots organizing, impactful storytelling, and support for a broad coalition of local partners in the states. Groups of working people and organizers from around the country spent the past two days meeting with their Representatives and Senators to advocate for policies that ask the rich and corporations to pay their fair share in taxes.

Watch the livestream video from today’s rally or check out FSA’s X and Bluesky feeds for the full event. Below are highlights from the rally’s diverse set of speakers.

WHAT THEY SAID:

Fair Share America Executive Director Kristen Crowell

“This is a national movement where we are the people that we’ve been waiting for. Our stories are the ones that they need to look us in the eye as they do harm.”

Cadon Sagendorf, 23-year-old former foster youth who relies on Medicaid for mental health care, Community Catalyst member from Salt Lake City, Utah

“I was placed into the foster care system at birth… There were so many nights where I didn’t think I’d be standing here before you today. Programs like Medicaid gave me access to vital care that I needed to live.”

Jacqueline Lamar, A home care worker and advocate who, along with her family, relies on Medicaid for essential care, a National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)/Care Can’t Wait member from Covington, Georgia

“Medicaid should protect both the people receiving the care and the workers who provide it. They need to fund it, they need to protect it, they need to raise our wages…they need to leave Medicaid alone. We won’t stand for it!”

Brittany Beimourtrusting, A federal worker for the VA who has a child with disabilities, speaking to the need for better child care and health supports, MomsRising member, Jacksonville, Florida

“I am a mom of three amazing children, 4,7, 9. I work full time for the VA… I am alarmed by cuts to health care funding. My daughter has daily seizures…Her first two years, she qualified for Medicaid and it helped her get the strongest possible start she could have. But because Medicaid is underfunded in Florida, she has been on a waitlist for half of her childhood. She’s non-verbal but she has a voice and these cuts could silence her.”

Charlotte Neal, Child care provider and union leader whose client families rely on subsidized care, United Domestic Workers of America/AFSCME Local 3930 member, Sacramento, California

“These cuts hurt people most. Two thirds of adults on Medicaid are already working. Like the parents of the kids in my care…They don’t need any incentives to get a job. They need steady hours and a real pay raise – not cuts to the services that help them stay afloat while they do their essential jobs.” 

Regina Bell, an elementary school librarian and General VP of the Washington Teachers Union, Washington DC

“As an educator we are always told there isn’t enough. It’s time we stop cutting taxes for the rich and fully fund our schools.” 

U.S. Representative Brendan Boyle (D-PA-2), Ranking Member, House Budget Committee “The tens of millions of people who rely on Medicaid are counting on us to win this fight!” 

U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Senate Finance Committee

“Three years ago, I had a stroke… I’m one of the fortunate ones; this is what a stroke survivor can look like. What happens when my colleagues say to most of America that get their care from Medicaid, that they’re going to tear it apart? …This is what Head Start does: it gets you to the United States Senate.”

U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Senate Finance Committee (WATCH) 

“He and I are both alums of Head Start (referring to Senator Luján)...” “You ought to at least spend enough time with ordinary people so you don't end up saying dumb things, like if my mother-in-law misses one Social Security check, ‘big deal.’ Of course, there's no big deal to her. Her son-in-law is a billionaire. That's not my story.  That's not the story of the people who are in this crowd. Right? In the words of that great prophet and poet, Kendrick Lamar, ‘They not like us.’” 

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee (WATCH)

"When the GOP and Trump were adamant to dismantle the ACA in Trump's first term, everyone said it was a done deal because they got the House, the Senate, and the White House. But they didn't succeed, because we mobilize! …We will stop this tax cut for the wealthy.” 

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member, Senate Finance Committee (WATCH) 

“I’m the ranking Democrat on the tax-writing committee. We’re going to keep it real simple: No bailouts for billionaires…I'm going to offer that proposal to protect Medicaid again and again and again. Until we get it done, and the billionaires understand they are gonna have to pay their fair share like everybody else in America.”

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member, Senate Budget Committee (PHOTO)

“When they say they want billionaires to win and families to lose, we say ‘hell no!’”

U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA-05), House Democratic Whip (WATCH)

“And why is this all happening? …It's so Elon Musk can pocket another tax break, so SpaceX can get its hand on another contract. So bankers can give themselves a bigger bonus. So the billionaire class can hoard more power and privilege and wealth. That's the playbook. More freedom for them, less for you. More money in their pocket taken from yours. But here's the thing: We are not gonna be quiet. We are not going to go peacefully along with this plan.”

U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51) (WATCH)

“When I say we need to tax rich people more, I literally mean we need to tax me and my family more…My family got to live the American dream. Do you know what I did to earn all of this money? I was born, that’s all I did. …It’s my responsibility to ensure that every family gets the opportunity to live the American dream, and right now that is so far from possible for so many people.”

U.S. Representative Sarah McBride (D-DE-AL) (WATCH)

“I am confident that if we stay in this fight, If we summon our hope. We can find the light, and we can change this world. That we can turn this moment into what my friend from Florida once called a ‘slingshot moment.’ Where, yes, we are pulled backwards, but the pressure and tension of being pulled backwards ultimately propels us to destinations that we've not yet been.” 

Partners and rally participants included members of: 50501 DC, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, Americans for Tax Fairness, Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, Care in Action, Care Can’t Wait, Caring Across Generations, Center for Popular Democracy, CLASP, Community Catalyst, Families Over Billionaires, Groundwork Action, Indivisible, Invest in Our New York, MomsRising, MoveOn, NEA, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Women’s Law Center, NETWORK, Our Revolution, P Street, People’s Action Institute, State Revenue Alliance, SEIU, Unrig Our Economy.

Press contacts: Ashley Woolheater (ashley@fairshareusa.org) and Kristin Sosanie (kristin@fairshareusa.org).

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About Fair Share America: Fair Share America is coordinating grassroots efforts across the country, amplifying voices and supporting people who are sounding the alarm about the devastating impact of deep budget cuts—used to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations—on families and state economies. Follow us @FairShare_USA.