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What are the items and prices the democrats want in the cr?
Executive Summary
Democrats pressing to end the 2025–26 continuing resolution fight center their demands on health-care protections and targeted program restorations, most prominently a permanent or extended renewal of Biden‑era enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits and reversals of recent Medicaid and related cuts. The draft FY26 Democratic CR text lists specific dollar lines for programs such as WIC, veterans’ items, and public broadcasting, but the political battle turns on whether those health and safety‑net restorations are accepted by Republicans [1] [2] [3].
1. What Democrats explicitly claim they want — health care at the top of the list
Democratic statements and reporting converge on one clear, recurring demand: extension or permanency for the enhanced ACA premium tax credits (advance premium tax credits) that lower marketplace premiums for roughly 24 million people and are scheduled to lapse at the end of 2025. Democrats also insist on undoing elements of HR1 that narrowed Medicaid eligibility definitions and cut matching funds, and on restoring Disproportionate Share Hospital payments and emergency Medicaid matching that serve low‑income and uninsured patients. These health items are framed as both cost‑of‑living and public‑health imperatives; supporters warn that letting credits expire would raise premiums and could cause millions to drop coverage [1] [2].
2. The draft FY26 Democratic CR shows concrete line items — dollars for programs beyond health care
The Democratic CR text circulated for FY26 contains explicit dollar amounts for discrete programs: $8.2 billion for WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), tens to hundreds of millions for agencies such as the U.S. Marshals Service and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and specific military and veterans apportionments included as continuing appropriations. The section‑by‑section summaries list program extensions through October 31, 2025, for community health centers and other health workforce programs. Those numeric entries show Democrats are packaging health demands alongside routine program funding to keep departments operational and to protect high‑priority social programs [3] [4].
3. The contested line: health subsidies are political leverage — why Republicans resist
Republicans controlling the House majority tied parts of HR1 to cuts and redefinitions in Medicaid and other programs; Democrats demand those cuts be reversed or mitigated as a condition for voting to reopen the government. Senate maneuvering indicates at least eight moderate Democrats could tip the balance, but they seek assurances on protections such as premium subsidy extensions before voting yes. GOP leaders have offered procedural assurances to allow votes on standalone subsidy extensions but insist the broader CR should reflect Republican priorities, creating a knot of political leverage around the health provisions [5] [6].
4. Independent analyses show the scope — economic and state impacts of subsidy changes
Nonpartisan and state‑level estimates underscore the fiscal and health consequences if enhanced subsidies expire: analyses predict notable revenue losses to state health sectors and higher out‑of‑pocket premiums for consumers, with billions of dollars in marketplace support at stake in states like New York alone. Public polling cited in analyses shows broad popular support for extending subsidies, which Democrats use to frame the CR dispute as protecting millions of insured Americans from higher costs and reduced access to care [2].
5. Budget mechanics and the wider appropriations picture — tradeoffs and scoring
The Democratic CR language and related fiscal commentary note that many appropriations and extensions in the FY26 draft have specified budgetary treatments, and some items in the continuing resolution are described as not being subject to typical pay‑as‑you‑go scorecards. Democrats argue that extending targeted subsidies can be paid for by reversing tax cuts for corporations and high earners, consistent with the Biden FY2024 budget approach to deficit reduction; Republicans argue such offsets are unacceptable. That dispute over offsets, deficit impact, and budget scoring shapes which specific items survive negotiations [7] [3].
6. Bottom line: concise list of Democratic CR priorities and the price tags visible so far
In sum, Democrats are pressing for: [8] extension or permanence of enhanced ACA premium tax credits; [9] restoration of Medicaid funding and program definitions rolled back in HR1, including DSH and emergency Medicaid match; [10] preservation of community health center and health workforce funding; and [11] a package of program dollar lines in the FY26 CR for WIC, veterans, public media, and law enforcement apportionments. The FY26 Democratic CR text supplies dollar figures for many of these items (for example, $8.2 billion for WIC and multiple specific agency apportionments), but the overarching price tag for subsidy extensions depends on whether Democrats seek a short extension through October 31, 2025, or a permanent statutory change — a difference worth billions and central to ongoing negotiations [1] [3] [4].