The official title of the Reconciliation Bill at the top of today’s news is “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” However, there are few to no beautiful things in this bill. It contains historic cuts to social safety nets, all to benefit the rich. The bill is long, complex, and difficult to read and understand. I’ll cover some of the major concerns I have with this bill, but they’re far from my only concerns.  Check out the link below for a more detailed list of the bill’s provisions.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/30/upshot/senate-republican-megabill.html

A study of the bill was just released by Yale Budget Lab. In their research, without considering changes to Medicaid, they found that the bill would reduce income for households in the bottom 20% income bracket. Households in the top 20% income bracket will see their income increase.

This is largely due to tax cuts for the rich and removal of social assistance for those with lower incomes. The bill cuts SNAP benefits for undocumented people, and increases work requirements for SNAP, essentially another cut.  Work requirements create an extra administrative burden, making it more difficult for people to get on and stay on benefits.

There are several changes to Medicaid within the bill, some of which don’t go into effect until years after its passage.  The bill includes new work requirements on Medicaid.  Many people with disabilities work, and while they’re supposed to be excluded from work requirements, many will have trouble coming up with the documentation they’ll need.  People will also have to prove their Medicaid eligibility every six months, rather than annually.

The bill also shifts more of the cost of Medicaid on to the states, greatly lessening the federal government’s historic responsibility for the lion’s share of its cost.  These changes will affect everyone; make Medicaid unavailable to undocumented people, and prevent Medicaid from being used for gender affirming care.  The following link breaks down all of the ways Medicaid is affected by the bill, with links to even more information.

https://www.kff.org/tracking-the-medicaid-provisions-in-the-2025-budget-bill/

The House of Representatives passed this bill by a very narrow margin—only one vote—on May 22^nd.   The bill then moved to the Senate, where it went through several changes, as different players negotiated the votes they needed to pass it.  Senators from Alaska and Maine, along with other centrist Republicans have been the focus of this effort—the Republican party has the majority, but only slightly. The bill passed the Senate on July 1^st, with an even split, and a tie-breaking vote cast by the Vice President.

The changes in the Senate’s version of this bill will kick it back to the House for another vote.  Once again, it will be a close vote, and its passage isn’t guaranteed.

If you want your voice to be heard, consider clicking the link below to sign up as a phone bank volunteer. Since we live in a state where our representatives are already committed to voting against the bill, a phone bank is a great way to rally support in states that need it.  The phone bank connects you to someone with similar views who lives in a state with a centrist Republican representative.  A script is provided, along with a virtual phone line (your phone number won’t be shown), and you help them to call their representative and ask to defend Medicaid by voting against this bill.

Remember, there is strength in numbers.  If we can show our centrist representatives that we don’t support this bill, they may be motivated to do what’s best for most Americans.

Here’s the link to sign up for the phone bank:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdU9JS5hdaOszHELSPbMtTR94xEih6Cza6THXKc1SyH8tPbjQ/viewform

Now more than ever, we need to make our voices heard.  This bill has been moving forward on extremely narrow margins. The Republican party can see that getting this bill (and others like it) through the House and Senate will not be easy.  Resistance is significant, not only among the legislators, but among their voting constituents.

 

Rachael Cowan,

Systems Change Advocate