Project 2025 is a Threat to Middle-Class Families on Long Island — Rep. D’Esposito Refuses to Denounce it
Long Island Union Leaders and Activists Call on Rep. D’Esposito to Speak Out Against the Pro-Corporate, Anti-Worker Agenda of Project 2025
HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK — Today, Empire State Voices, Make the Road Action, and 1199SEIU held a rally with local union leaders, activists, and residents in front of the new civic engagement mural in Hempstead, NY. Flanked by a mobile billboard truck echoing their message and Mr. Rigs, the “corporate fat cat,” the coalition spoke out against the harmful anti-union and anti-worker policies set forth in Project 2025.
The groups demanded that Congressman Anthony D’Esposito break his silence and disavow the plan, which threatens the health and financial security of millions of middle-class families in favor of tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations. The coalition included representatives from Battleground New York Action, House Accountability War Room, New York State Nurses Association, New York Communities for Change, New York Working Families Party, Long Island Progressive Coalition, Food & Water Watch, The Corridor Counts, NY 3 & 4 Healthcare Action, MoveOn, and Bend the Arc.
Local union leaders, activists, and residents demanded that Congressman Anthony D’Esposito finally break his silence and disavow Project 2025. | Credit: EMPIRE STATE VOICES
With lawmakers returning to Washington next week to resume negotiations over next year’s government funding levels, Long Islanders are concerned about the anti-middle-class agenda that has engulfed the priorities of the Republican House caucus. Current Republican proposals, which Rep. D’Esposito is expected to support, contain eerie echoes of Project 2025’s core economic pillars: cutting or underfunding key programs that working families rely on in order to pay for corporate tax cuts.
“Project 2025 poses an existential threat to working- and middle-class families here on Long Island. We’re already struggling with a cost of living crisis, but the Project 2025 agenda would send that into the stratosphere,” said Dylan Wheeler, NY-04 Regional Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. “Congressman D’Esposito continues to dismiss our concerns, but refuses to actually respond on the issues. He owes it to his constituents to let them know where he stands. Will he be complicit in Project 2025’s war on the middle class, or will he finally stand up for Long Island families and denounce it?”
Current Republican proposals, which Rep. D’Esposito is expected to support, contain eerie echoes of Project 2025’s core economic pillars. | Credit: EMPIRE STATE VOICES
In partnership with the House Accountability War Room, Empire State Voices also announced the launch of a new website, AnthonyDEsposito2025.com, highlighting how Rep. D’Esposito’s record mirrors many of the core priorities laid out in Project 2025. By shining a light on the congressman’s past votes, the groups hope that they might encourage Rep. D’Esposito to finally tell his constituents where he stands on the radical agenda.
“It’s no surprise that Rep. D’Esposito has supported and voted for the same policies as those in Project 2025,” said House Accountability War Room spokesperson Danny Turkel. “From pushing tax breaks for wealthy donors to championing harsh new work requirements for Medicaid to attempting to weaken worker protections, Rep. D’Esposito’s agenda and Project 2025 are one and the same.”
A new website, AnthonyDEsposito2025.com, highlights how the congressman’s record mirrors many of the core priorities laid out in Project 2025. | Credit: EMPIRE STATE VOICES
At its core, Project 2025 is an anti-middle-class manifesto that sets forth a vision for the country that prioritizes billionaires and corporate profits over the well-being of working families. Under the plan, the average New York family of four would see an annual tax increase of more than $3,100, while the ultra-rich—households bringing in over $10 million in income—would receive an average tax cut of $1.5 million. The plan would also raise healthcare costs for millions of New Yorkers, placing new work requirements and a lifetime cap on Medicaid benefits and eliminating Medicare’s limit on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. This would result in a massive wealth redistribution to the richest Americans while forcing even more working families into poverty.
“As a home health aid worker, I see every day the importance of taking care of our health and having access to quality health care,” said Deyania Mairena, a member of Make the Road Action. “When Congressman Anthony D’Esposito returns to Congress next week, it is crucial he stands up and fights up for Long Islanders' health and the essential programs that our community depends on. We urge him to reject the dangerous agenda of Project 2025 that harms working-class people. It is long overdue for Congressman D'Esposito to put our communities first.”
At its core, Project 2025 is an anti-middle-class manifesto that sets forth a vision for the country that prioritizes billionaires and corporate profits over the well-being of working families. | Credit: EMPIRE STATE VOICES
“Our leaders must be people who center the needs of all of us: passing laws that benefit working families, that make sure we can keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, and access to good skilled jobs that provide financial security today and tomorrow,” said Joe Sackman, Nassau County Chair of the New York Working Families Party. “We need leaders that don’t steal from everyday working folks to give big tax breaks to billionaires at the cost of everyday working-class families' financial futures.”
“Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, while no one is surprised that you still haven’t heard the voices of your constituents, we are, as always, disappointed,” said Katie Hawkland, Organizing Director for Long Island Progressive Coalition. “Many in your district are not just your constituents, they are also part of organized labor and unions that continue to contribute and serve the residents of District 4. They are our teachers, nurses, and tradespeople, the very foundations of what makes our district great, and yet your friends in DC aim to undermine—if not entirely dismantle—union power.”
“Long Islanders’ right to clean, affordable water is under threat, yet D’Esposito would rather push corporate cronies’ dangerous Project 2025 agenda than stand up for our basic needs at home,” said Fred Harrison, Volunteer Leader for Food & Water Watch Action. “Long Island deserves leadership in Washington that puts Main Street before Wall Street.”
To learn more about Empire State Voices, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
About Make the Road Action
Make the Road Action builds political power rooted in immigrant and working-class communities, promotes progressive policy solutions, and strengthens the movement for justice through electoral and grassroots organizing.
