(Corning, NY) – Citizen Action of New York alongside outraged community members rallied outside Rep. Nick Langworthy’s Corning office today to condemn his vote for the cruel and dangerous Republican budget bill that guts Medicaid, slashes food assistance, and threatens the lives and livelihoods of everyday New Yorkers—all to deliver more handouts to billionaires and big corporations.
In a late-night vote on May 22, Rep. Langworthy joined his Republican colleagues in passing President Trump’s “Big Ugly Budget,” a devastating piece of legislation that rips over $880 billion from Medicaid, guts the Affordable Care Act, and slashes $230 billion from SNAP—one of the nation’s most vital food assistance programs
“These cuts are not about fiscal responsibility — they are about cruelty,” said Ursula Rozum, Health Campaigns Manager at Citizen Action of New York. “By voting for this budget, Rep. Langworthy chose billionaires over babies, corporations over communities, and greed over human life.”
In Rep. Langworthy’s district, 33,000 people are enrolled in the healthcare program Essential Plan and could lose access to affordable coverage. Additionally, 13.7% of households in his district use SNAP in order to afford food for their families.
At today’s rally, community members from Citizen Action of New York, Citizens for a Better Southern Tier, Indivisible Corning/Elmira, and the National Union of the Homeless – Elmira Chapter shared personal stories of how these cuts would devastate their families and neighbors.
“If these Medicaid cuts go through, I’ll lose access to the medications and therapy that keep me stable and healthy. My therapist told me they might have to shut their doors altogether,” said Elizabeth Penman, Community Organizer with Indivisible Corning-Elmira. “This isn’t just numbers on a page—it’s my life. Thanks to Medicaid, I’ve lost weight, my diabetes is under control, and I’m finally feeling well. Without it, I don’t know what would happen to me—or to the hundreds of people in our community who rely on it to survive.”
“Rep. Nick Langworthy voted for more red tape, more out-of-pocket costs, and more barriers for working-class families in the Southern Tier,” said Dora Leland, Founder of Citizens for a Better Southern Tier. “Make no mistake—budgets are moral documents and this budget is economic violence. We will continue to speak out and hold Langworthy accountable for backing policies that will devastate the very people he was elected to serve.”