“The budget the House passed today is going to hurt a lot of people if the Senate doesn’t make some major changes. The sad part is that all of these cuts, and all the pain that will come with them, could have been avoided. We’ve known for three years that this day was coming. But in all that time, the leadership couldn’t come up with a viable solution to the budget crisis. Now it’s up to the Senators to come up with a better solution. And for the people of Alabama’s sake I hope that they do.”

Rep. Craig Ford is a Democrat from Gadsden and the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives.