Published: September 2017

Enough with the sneaky and harmful policy riders

Appropriations bills continue to be misused to undermine essential consumer and environmental safeguards through poisonous policy riders. Enough is enough! Advocates are asking Congress to oppose any FY 2018 bills that contain controversial riders regarding unpopular and dangerous initiatives that would otherwise never pass on their own.

Riders are policy changes or amendments that are attached to important bills such as annual spending bills. Sometimes they include divisive ideological initiatives or unpopular provisions that could not pass on their own merits or would otherwise be vetoed by the President. In a letter to Congress, advocates urged legislators to oppose any FY2018 appropriation bills or packages that contain harmful policy riders. Some of the proposed riders include those that would threaten the autonomy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, restrict environmental regulations that protect our drinking water and clean air, and halt enforcement of investor protections that were implemented earlier this year.

Lead Organization

Public Citizen

Other Organizations

9to5, National Association of Working Women | Action on Smoking and Health | AFL-CIO | AFSCME | Alliance for Retired Americans | American Association for Justice | American Bird Conservancy | Americans for Financial Reform | Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization | Association of Reproductive Health Professionals | Autistic Self Advocacy Network | Bend the Arc Jewish Action | Black Women's Health Imperative | Carmelite NGO | Catholics for Choice | Center for Biological Diversity | Center for Justice & Democracy | Center for Progressive Reform | Center for Science in the Public Interest | Clean Water Action | Coalition on Human Needs | Common Cause | Communications Workers of America (CWA) | Consumer Action | Corporate Accountability International | Daily Kos | Defenders of Wildlife | Democracy 21 | Earthjustice | Earthworks | Economic Policy Institute Policy Center | Endangered Species Coalition | Environment America | Family Equality Council | Free Press Action Fund | Friends of the Earth | Government Accountability Project | GreenLatinos | Grounded Solutions Network | Hip Hop Caucus | Hispanic Federation | Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings | ICAST (International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology) | Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy | Interfaith Power & Light | Jewish Women International | Just Foreign Policy | The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights | League of Conservation Voters | Main Street Alliance | NAACP | NARAL Pro-Choice America | National Abortion Federation | National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) | National Association for College Admission Counseling | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Association of Social Workers | National Black Justice Coalition | National Center for Lesbian Rights | National Center for Transgender Equality | National Coalition for LGBT Health | National Coalition for the Homeless | National Council for Occupational Safety and Health | National Council of Jewish Women | National Education Association | National Employment Law Project | National Fair Housing Alliance | National Immigration Law Center | National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health | National Low Income Housing Coalition | National Partnership for Women & Families | National WIC Association | National Women's Health Network | National Women's Law Center | Natural Resources Defense Council | NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice | New America's Open Technology Institute | New Progressive Alliance

More Information

For more information, please visit Public Citizen's website.

Download PDF

Enough with the sneaky and harmful policy riders   (CleanBudgetLetter.pdf)