CONTACT: press@opportunitywisconsin.org 

Opportunity Wisconsin outlines questions constituents deserve answered before their members of Congress return to Washington


MADISON, Wis. — As Congress heads home for recess, Opportunity Wisconsin is calling on Congressmen Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil to use the time in their districts to actually listen to constituents and to answer for the votes that have made life more expensive for Wisconsin families.

Both congressmen have spent the past year voting for tariffs, backing a war in Iran with no end in sight, and protecting the Republican Tax Law’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP to help pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Now, as they return home, Wisconsinites deserve real answers and accountability.

Opportunity Wisconsin is calling on Van Orden and Steil to answer the following questions from their constituents during recess:

  1. The average American household has had to pay an additional $3,500 because of policies Republicans Congress has passed. How do you expect working families to afford this added burden?
     
  2. Will you fight to stop the Trump administration’s new Medicaid proposed rule, which could take away health coverage from Wisconsinites with cancer and other serious illnesses?
     
  3. How will you support Wisconsin farmers who are being squeezed from every direction — as tariffs raise the cost of equipment and supplies, the war in Iran drives up diesel and fertilizer prices, and federal cuts add even more strain to family budgets?
     
  4. The war in Iran has already cost taxpayers more than $37.5 billion, and this week you voted for a $95 billion package that includes tens of billions more to continue funding it. Why are you prioritizing an expensive foreign war over lowering costs for Wisconsin families?
     
  5. Why have you prioritized massive new tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations, while cutting Medicaid, making it harder for Wisconsin families to afford groceries, and making it tougher for small businesses to succeed?

“Congressmen Van Orden and Steil have spent the last year voting again and again to raise costs on Wisconsin families while handing out tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “Recess isn’t a break from accountability, it’s an opportunity for them to explain these votes to the people back home who are paying the price. Wisconsinites deserve real answers, not more excuses.”