Residents rail against harmful massive federal tax and spending legislation

The following was submitted by Indivisible Georgia 10:

Several Athens residents were among the speakers from across northeast Georgia who gathered at Congressman Mike Collins’ office in Monroe last week to tell him how the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful” budget bill would harm them personally.  The meeting was held on July 1, two days before the final House vote on the Republican budget proposal.

“From the time I was 25 I've had autoimmune disease issues. I suffered through ulcerative colitis for over 27 years. In 2019 I had a double mastectomy due to breast cancer. I suffer from chronic migraines lasting 20 days out of the month,” said an Athens woman in a letter read at the gathering because she was unable to attend in person. ”Now I'm going blind from an autoimmune disease that is stereotypical for people that have ulcerative colitis. How is a deaf, blind woman with an ileostomy supposed to function in a level of poverty built to kill her?”

Speakers repeatedly asked, “Do you care, Mr. Collins?”

Around 50 people from across Collins’ Congressional District 10 showed up at Rep. Collins’ Monroe office at the gathering organized by Indivisible GA District 10, the Oconee County Democratic Committee, and Indivisible Boldly Blue of Walton County.  Similar protests organized by Indivisible Georgia were held the same day at the offices of Georgia’s congressional representatives across the state.

University of Georgia student Moss Joslin talked about the impact the bill would have on the ability of students like herself, who are trying to build a future in the 21st century economy. “The federal Pell Grant made school possible for me, not luxurious, not a free ride,” Joslin said. “My Pell Grant allows me to study, eat and work without fear of having to drop out to support myself. The $8-$10 an hour jobs I worked before college would never allow me to attend UGA without federal funding. Rent increases every year with inflation, but my wage at my job does not. Fresh food is a damn luxury now”.

”Why are you, Mike Collins, voting to take this opportunity from my neighbors?.” Joslin who graduated from high school in Monroe, continued. “Cutting education funding from the poorest in your district will only ferment broken dreams into anger and resentment. And to do what? To increase the country’s deficit anyway? To pass tax cuts for the rich? I think it’s shameful to not believe higher education should be attainable for working families and their children without putting them in debt for the rest of their lives.” 

Nonpartisan analysts project that the bill will increase the U.S. deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade and result in drastic cuts to federal services such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Support Program, formerly called “food stamps,” and Medicare.

Other speakers at the rally talked about how the sweeping budget cuts in the bill would affect the region their familiesand the future of humanity.

“The MAGA regime has already fired thousands of EPA professionals and cut dozens of programs,” David Geddis, a climate scientist in Athens, told the crowd. “This disastrous megabill will eliminate many initiatives like research funding for toxics in low-income areas.  I’m focusing only on climate change - the major threat to humanity. It’s too late to reverse some of its catastrophic effects that we’re already seeing but we must try harder to at least slow it down.”

“This bill will remove rules to reduce carbon emissions from sources like coal fired power plants. I don’t see how any politician can seriously consider it,” Geddis concluded.

In other statements at the protest, an Oconee County attorney and single mother of four testified that the Medicaid cuts in the budget bill would make it impossible for her to provide adequate medical care for her severely disabled son and would probably force her to quit work to care for him full time, threatening her ability to provide for herself and her other children. Other speakers talked about the effects the cuts to federal services in the Trump administration’s budget would impact Georgian’s public libraries, school systems, small farmers, health care, and food security, particularly for people with disabilities and in rural areas.

Rep. Collins’ staff was given copies of all of the statements after the gathering.   

In the days following the protest, callers to Collins’ Georgia and Washington D.C. offices reported having trouble getting through to his staff members and that the Congressman’s voicemail boxes were full and not recording additional messages.

Despite the pleas from Geddis Joslin and his other constituents, Collins voted in favor of the budget bill on July 3. It was signed into law on July 4.