Democratic governors denounce ‘big beautiful bill’ as U.S. House prepares to vote

TOPEKA — “Total bunk” is what Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, called the notion from federal lawmakers that states can backfill potential cuts to public programs, which are part of a Republican budget proposal.

“We don’t have the money,” Kelly said on a press call Wednesday with Democratic governors from Colorado, Michigan and New Mexico.

The call came ahead of a determinative U.S. House vote expected this week on what’s been dubbed “one big beautiful bill.”

The budget bill could drastically cut public programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Kelly called the proposed bill “deeply unpopular.” Kelly, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham presented a united front of opposition to the bill.

“It is literally a tariff on every American, so that mega — the ultra rich — mega-billionaires and corporations get to have yet another tax break for many folks who already don’t pay taxes,” Lujan Grisham said.

The most recent version of the bill proposes around $700 billion in cuts to federal Medicaid subsidies, the largest in U.S. history, and $267 billion less in SNAP spending. A preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that states will have to increase spending by a combined $78 million to offset cuts. It also offers complicated tax code modifications and an elimination of taxes on tips and overtime.

The budget office wrote Tuesday that the bill increases resources for households in the highest 10% of earners, while household resources would decrease for those in the lowest 10% of earners.

SNAP in Kansas benefits around 190,000 people, 87,000 of whom are children, Kelly said. In New Mexico, SNAP has been crucial to reducing child poverty rates, Lujan Grisham said.

Lost Medicaid access would cause citizens to choose between which bills to pay and which medications households can afford, Whitmer, the Michigan governor, said.

“We should be working across the aisle to make health care better and easier to afford,” Whitmer said.

Polis, the Colorado governor, said each proposal this year to cut Medicaid has been “dangerous.” Echoing Kelly, he said states don’t have the money to mitigate cuts and rollbacks to health care.

“They’re basically asking states to do their dirty work for them,” he said.

The Republican Governors Association, in a Tuesday letter signed by 20 governors and addressed to President Donald Trump, remained in support of the bill.

“This landmark piece of legislation embodies your powerful vision to bring about the next great American revival,” the letter said. “It truly delivers on the bold promises all Republicans made to the American people to restore the security, prosperity, and fiscal sanity for our nation.”

Medicaid ‘a lifeline’

Staff with Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a statewide Medicaid advocacy organization, traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to urge the state’s congressional delegation to expand Medicaid access. Kansas is one of 10 states in the country that have not expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act to include low-income adults. The state’s lack of expansion has been billed by Republicans as a benefit in the face of Congress’ drastic cuts.

“That is just false,” Kelly said. “The fact of the matter is we have left $8 billion Kansas taxpayer dollars back in Washington, D.C., that’s been distributed to 40 other states that did expand Medicaid for them to take care of their people and for them to expand their economies, while we sit here in Kansas trying to make do on what we’ve got.”

Millions across the country will lose coverage as a result of Medicaid cuts, said April Holman, executive director of the alliance.

The alliance visited with people in each of Kansas’ four congressional districts, speaking with more than 200 Kansans who informed a 12-page booklet that alliance staff gave to each federal representative.

“Medicaid is not just a budget line — it’s a lifeline,” Holman said in a news release. “We came to Washington to ensure that the voices of Kansans are being heard by federal lawmakers. The proposed House cuts will undermine Medicaid and put lives at risk.”