"We see the budget as a moral statement," Dee Rowland of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City said, adding that proposals to cut funding for food stamp, housing and medical programs would leave many "without a place at the table."

At a news conference in front of the Wallace Bennett Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City, as Congress was getting set to cast preliminary votes on Medicaid reductions and tax cuts, Rowland and other representatives of social justice groups said reductions would be devastating.

Joy Poncelow knows firsthand the importance of Medicaid for her husband, who has AIDS. Reducing the benefit would be the same as issuing a death warrant, she said.

"Medical care will be a privilege for the wealthy only, if these cuts go through," she said.

Jeff Fox, federal campaign coordinator for Utah Issues, said veterans and people with disabilities are among the state's residents who would be affected. House and Senate budget proposals call for cuts in entitlement programs, including Medicaid, totaling $38 billion to $67 billion over the next five years, he said.

At the same time, Congress is considering tax cuts, making spending reductions more likely, Fox said.

Gina Cornia of Utahns Against Hunger said the reductions are being proposed as participation is growing in federal programs that sometimes give children their only meals.

pmanson@sltrib.com