Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass President Trump’s “Big Beautiful” omnibus budget bill, which looks to make major cuts to social services, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, to fund expanded tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations.
In response to the bill’s passage, Alabama Arise — the statewide nonprofit focused on addressing poverty in Alabama — released an official statement heavily criticizing the legislation’s provisions and the impacts they would have on everyday Alabamians.
“It’s wrong to hurt people who are struggling to help people who are already doing well. But the U.S. House just voted for a budget bill that would do exactly that,” said Arise’s Executive Director Robyn Hyden. “This cruel budget plan would take away food assistance, health coverage and other vital services from hundreds of thousands of Alabamians who struggle to afford basic needs. And it would make those cuts in service of slashing taxes for billionaires and highly profitable corporations. The bill’s $1.1 trillion of cuts to food assistance and health care over the next decade would be equal to the amount of tax breaks it would provide for the wealthiest 2 percent of households.”
In particular, Hyden critiqued the budget’s historic cuts to the SNAP, which would both increase costs for Alabama’s general fund and leave many Alabamians hungry without critical food assistance.
“Alabama likely would feel the worst effects from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP benefits have been fully federally funded for decades, but this bill would change that. As a result of this cost shift to states, Alabama would be on the hook to pay nearly $300 million a year in direct benefits and additional administrative costs,” Hyden stated.
“There is real reason to worry that the Legislature can’t or wouldn’t provide this additional funding. In that case, Alabama would be forced to cut SNAP benefits significantly – or even eliminate the program altogether for nearly 800,000 participants statewide,” she continued. “These cuts would send hunger soaring and devastate the economy in local communities across Alabama.”
Additionally, Hyden highlighted the substantial harm which the budget would have on health care access and affordability in Alabama.
“The House bill also would make health care inaccessible or less affordable for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians. It would allow enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire, increasing premium costs for marketplace plans,” Hyden noted. “It also would take away the additional federal incentives for the first two years of Medicaid expansion that Alabama left on the table, increasing the chances that hundreds of thousands of our neighbors will remain stuck in the health coverage gap with no options to afford life-saving care.”
Alabama’s congressional delegation voted along party lines last Thursday, with the state’s Republicans voting in favor of the budget while U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, and Shomari Figures, D-Alabama, voted against the bill.
“These drastic cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance are the largest in history and represent an outrageous betrayal of our values as Americans,” Sewell said after voting against the legislation. “Alabama families shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for Trump’s billionaire tax cuts. I voted NO.”
Figures had also previously critiqued the budget and called out the negative effects it would have on Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
“One in four people in my district receive SNAP benefits. One in four people in my district receives Medicaid benefits. These are people who can’t afford to lose healthcare access,” Figures said. “The truth is people will lose those benefits, all in an effort to make long money longer.”
After narrowly passing the House on a vote of 215 in favor to 214 opposed, Trump’s budget now goes to the U.S. Senate where Republicans hold a 53 to 47 majority over Democrats and Independents. Hyden called on the Senate, including Alabama U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt to reject the budget in its current form.
“The Senate should put the future and well-being of all of us ahead of tax cuts for the wealthy and well-connected. That means rejecting the House bill’s harmful service cuts for working people and tax giveaways to wealthy households,” Hyden stated. “Our senators should focus instead on building an economy that works for everyone in Alabama and across our country.”
Senate Republicans have already publicly stated their intentions to change the budget bill’s current makeup, but what exactly those changes will look like has yet to be seen.
