Download FISCAL CLIFF TEMPLATE [NAME OF ORGANIZATION] is

FISCAL CLIFF TEMPLATE
[NAME OF ORGANIZATION] is concerned with the difficult fiscal choices that Congress
and the White House will have to make by the end of the year that will significantly
impact all Americans for years to come.
If a compromise on reducing the deficit is not reached, automatic across-the-board cuts
(sequestration) will dramatically scale back federal domestic programs, threatening the
social safety net for millions of American families. Further, a series of tax cuts is also
scheduled to expire at the end of the year, threatening middle class families with an
average annual tax increase of $2,000. These two components – steep spending cuts
and abrupt tax hikes – would undermine our nation’s economic recovery while
needlessly putting many struggling families at risk.
Failure to reach an agreement will only exacerbate the devastating losses in assets and
family wealth that many Americans have already experienced throughout the economic
downturn. From 2004 to 2009 -- the height of the housing crisis -- Asian Americans
experienced a 54 percent decline in household wealth, largely due to foreclosures and
lost property value. In addition, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians & Pacific Islanders
(AANHPI) living in poverty increased by over 450,000 from 2007 to 2010, for an increase
of over 30 percent for Asian Americans and 40 percent for Native Hawaiians & Pacific
Islanders compared with 21.5 percent for the national population.
Reducing our deficit by making further cuts to social safety net programs without
including additional revenues only worsens the financial and economic outlook for
AANHPI families. [ADD SPECIFIC PROGRAMMATIC CUTS OR LOCAL AANHPI
DATA]

AANHPI communities are often concentrated in the most expensive housing
markets in the country, with median gross rents significantly higher than any
other racial or ethnic group. Across-the-board cuts would reduce the capacity of
rental assistance programs like tenant-based housing vouchers, which help
lower-income families stay in their homes. [USE STATE-BY-STATE NUMBERS
FROM CAPACD RESOURCE PAGE]

AANHPIs reside in many of the hardest hit metropolitan areas that suffered the
highest rates of foreclosure. Budget cuts would reduce access to critical, inlanguage housing counseling services, increasing the risk of foreclosure, scams,
and fraud for many immigrant communities. Cuts would also reduce available
funding for community development finance programs like the Community
Development Block Grant, Native Hawaiian Block Grant, and the HOME
Investment Partnerships Program, further exacerbating a severe shortage in
affordable housing. [USE STATE-BY-STATE NUMBERS FROM CAPACD
RESOURCE PAGE]

Twenty million Americans remain unemployed, including many AANHPIs.
According to projections by the Congressional Budget Office, failure to avert the
fiscal cliff would result in a 9 percent increase in the national unemployment rate,
putting at risk many AANHPI communities still suffering from high unemployment
rates. Hmong, Laotian and Cambodian Americans will be hit especially hard, as
the unemployment rate in these communities already hovers near 10 percent.
[ADD ORGANIZATION QUOTE THAT MAKES THE FOLLOWING POINTS
REGARDING ANY DEFICIT REDUCTION PROPOSAL]
 The wealthy must pay their fair share and contribute to reducing the deficit.
 Support a balanced approach that takes into account cuts already made to
discretionary programs through the Budget Control Act of 2011.
 Any compromise must not include further cuts to social safety net programs and
should not harm low income families already affected by the economic crisis.