Oregon AFSCME Members Stand with Rep. Janelle Bynum

On Saturday, November 1 at Noon, Oregon AFSCME Council 75 members – the public service workers who keep Oregon running –met with Rep. Janelle Bynum for a press conference to discuss the federal government shutdown as well as ongoing attacks on health care and public services.

AFSCME members underscored how the cuts to critical programs like the ACA, SNAP and Medicaid – all in the name of the largest tax break for billionaires in history – will impact Oregon. AFSCME members and Rep. Bynum spoke about how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as the ongoing anti-worker shutdown are a full-frontal assault on health care and public services for Oregonian families.  

AFSCME members thanked Congresswoman Janelle Bynum for voting against cuts to Medicaid and SNAP to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, and for working to lower the cost of health care for Oregonians.

U.S. Representative Janelle Bynum said: “Today marks the start of open enrollment and Oregonians are going to be faced with plans that are hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars more. Providing families with healthcare shouldn’t be a partisan issue — it’s time to get to work.”

 Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Joe Baessler said: “One in six Oregonians depend on SNAP benefits and are terrified about where their next meal will come from once their benefits run out. But the extremists in Congress would rather give their billionaire buddies tax breaks, instead of prioritizing their own constituents.”

Oregon AFSCME President and Clackamas County Emergency Services Dispatcher Fred Yungbluth said: “In April, anti-union extremists passed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, gutting Medicaid and SNAP benefits. They did it to hand out tax breaks to billionaires. Now, with millions of Americans facing huge increases in their ACA premiums, they’ve manufactured another crisis. But no matter the attacks we face, Congresswoman Janelle Bynum stands with working people across Oregon.”

Oregon AFSCME member and Network Analyst for Oregon City Steven Kang said: “When it came time to choose between working Oregonians and billionaires, Representative Janelle Bynum voted against the Big Ugly Bill because she stands with working families. Now she is fighting to protect the Affordable Care Act. Janelle Bynum is trying to stop the shocking increasing in premiums that are going to hit Oregonians and 22 million Americans across the country.”