Nine Ways the Senate GOP Budget Bill Will Raise Costs on Working Families

Nine Ways the Senate GOP Budget Bill Will Raise Costs on Working Families

Senate Bill Punishes Working Families to Hand Billionaires a Tax Giveaway, Says Groundwork’s Owens

Today, Senate Republicans passed President Trump’s budget bill, which would make life tougher and more expensive for working families by dangerously slashing Medicaid, food assistance, and other basic needs programs — all so billionaires and large corporations receive a massive tax handout.

Groundwork Collaborative’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens reacted with the following statement:

“Americans are being crushed by the high cost of living, and the Republican response is to kick millions of working families off their health care coverage, shutter rural hospitals and nursing homes, and raise the price of essentials like groceries and utility bills.

“The House passed a costly and callous bill, but the Senate version is even worse; it punishes working families to hand billionaires a massive tax giveaway.

“Republicans know this is a deeply unpopular bill, and that’s why they are rushing it through Congress before Americans find out what’s in it. It is a betrayal of working families across the country, who will know exactly who to blame when their grocery bills go up, their health insurance premiums rise, and their electric bills spike.”

BACKGROUND

An analysis by Groundwork Collaborative found that the Senate budget bill will increase costs for working families in nine ways:

• Increasing Health Care Expenses: Senate Republicans have proposed the largest Medicaid cut in U.S. history, doubling down on the devastating impacts of the House-passed bill, which threatens to close 338 rural hospitals and 579 nursing homes. Coupled with drastic changes to the Affordable Care Act, the legislation would kick 17 million people off their health insurance. Those able to stay on Marketplace coverage would see annual premiums nearly double to $1,300. For families in rural areas, premium increases could top $3,000.
• Increasing Grocery Bills: As American families struggle to afford groceries and food insecurity reaches its highest level in more than 10 years, Republicans want to reduce or eliminate Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) benefits for nearly 5 million families. A significant portion of families would see their benefits reduced by an average of $100 per month, including more than half a million children, while over 2 million people would lose the benefit completely. A single mom with one child would see her food assistance payment drop to less than $5 per person per day – far too little to feed a family as grocery prices continue to rise.
  • As food assistance is cut, more people will turn to food banks, which are already stretched thin and will not be able to keep up with the growing demand. This bill proposes a 20% cut to SNAP, and food bank managers have warned that even a 10% cut would be financially equivalent to wiping out every food bank in the U.S.
  • At the same time, over 27,000 grocery stores that rely on SNAP spending are at risk. This will lead to store closures, job losses, higher prices, and reduced access to food in many communities, particularly in rural areas.
• Raising Utility Bills: Republicans want a near-full repeal of the clean energy tax credits, which incentivize utility companies to make new investments and diversify their grids. This could raise the average family’s annual electricity costs by an average of more than $160 annually by 2030 and $400 by 2035, amounting to a more than $50 billion increase in yearly US energy expenditures by 2035. The grid is increasingly at risk of failing to meet soaring demand, which is set to double in the next 5 years as AI and data centers proliferate. The result will be sky high electricity bills and less resilient energy supply for consumers.
• Increasing Student Loan Payments: The bill eliminates multiple income-based student loan programs that help borrowers to repay their student loans, such as SAVE and PAYE. New borrowers would only be eligible for the Repayment Assistance Program (RAP), significantly increasing monthly payments. For example, a family with one child would pay $417 a month on the RAP plan, compared to less than $100 they would have paid under the SAVE plan. Additionally, the bill significantly limits how much parents of students can borrow from the federal government, forcing millions to pay higher interest rates from private lenders to fill the gap.
• Increasing the Price of Home Energy Efficiency Improvements: As utility bills rise, making your home more energy efficient would typically help – but Republicans want to make that more expensive, too. The Senate bill terminates the residential clean energy credit, which saved families an average of $2,230 on solar panels in 2023. It also ends the energy efficient home improvement credit, which provided up to $3,200 in tax credits for taxpayers who made energy efficiency improvements to their homes, like installing electric heat pumps and Energy Star-certified windows. Currently, leveraging these two credits can save consumers more than $2,200 in energy costs each year.
• Increasing the Price of a New Home: Republicans want to abolish the New Energy Efficient Home Credit, which incentivized the construction of energy efficient homes and was estimated to spur the construction of 3 million homes in the next few years. Now, builders that were expecting the credit will likely pass the cost on to consumers or cancel the construction of new homes altogether, further disrupting the housing supply and increasing costs.
• Raising Gas Prices and Commuting Costs: By 2035, the price of gasoline would rise by up to 37 cents per gallon as a result of the proposed termination of electric vehicle (EV) affordability programs and a provision that strips existing fuel economy standards of any teeth. Paired with the termination of the $20 monthly pre-tax benefit for those who commute with a bicycle, which will increase demand for liquid fuel and drive up gas prices further, there’s no good way to escape from increased commuting costs.
• Increasing the Price of a New Car: Republicans want to terminate the $7,500 tax credit for purchase of new EVs ($4,000 for buying a used EV). On top of increased vehicle costs, Americans could also miss out on up to $2,200 in annual savings on fuel expenses.
• Raising Costs for Parents: Republicans are proposing taking the Child Tax Credit away from the parents of children if neither parent is a citizen or legal permanent resident. This would deprive parents of the $2,200 credit meant to help offset the costs of raising children.