Experts reached Americans in 48 states on the impacts of the law on their groceries, healthcare, utilities, and more
Earlier this month, President Trump signed Republicans’ budget bill into law, making life more expensive for working families by kicking millions of Americans off their health care coverage, taking food assistance away from children and seniors, and rolling back energy programs that save Americans money on their utility bills. Groundwork Collaborative and experts with the Economic Speakers Bureau joined more than 80 local radio and TV outlets in nearly all 50 states, meeting Americans where they are during their morning commutes or tuning into the local evening news. Experts delivered a simple message: the GOP budget law will increase the cost of groceries, healthcare, utilities, tuition, and other essentials for everyday Americans.
Here’s what Americans are hearing…
Across 116 local markets through Nexstar:
“The law will increase the average household energy bill by $78 to $192 over the course of the ten years that it’s in place. And that’ll be a total energy bill increase for industrial users of about $10 to $11 billion. These are not inconsequential hikes on customers and families that are already facing skyrocketing utility and energy bills.” – Alex Jacquez, Chief of Policy and Advocacy for Groundwork Collaborative, on Nexstar.
Across 119 local markets through Gray TV:
“Millions of Americans are no longer going to be able to access Medicaid… This will have reverberating effects on our healthcare system. Americans will not receive any actual income benefit from this legislation. What you’re going to see is more of our money going to those that are the very richest — we’re not going to actually see it improve the lives of working and middle class people across the country.” – Heather Boushey, former Chief Economist for the White House Invest in America Cabinet, on Gray TV.
In Arizona:
“In Arizona, there are 380,000 plus people who are at risk of losing Medicaid. This is not going to have detrimental impacts on individuals who need to see a doctor and need to ensure their care is covered, but in the healthcare ecosystem, this is what healthcare providers have been sounding the alarm on. Just in Arizona, we’ve seen announcements that about five rural hospitals and seven nursing homes are at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts.” – Alex Jacquez, Chief of Policy and Advocacy for Groundwork Collaborative, on KFNN-AM in Phoenix, AZ.
In California:
“A lot of lower-and-middle income Californians are at risk. About 3.8 million people are at risk of losing their health insurance, which is nearly the population of Los Angeles. And more than 3 million are at risk of losing their SNAP benefits that help Californians afford groceries—epsecially at times like now. Grocery stores that rely on SNAP recipients could close and more than 25 hospitals across the state are at risk of closure as Medicaid benefits are cut.” – Elizabeth Pancotti, Managing Director of Policy & Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, on WCBS-TV in Los Angeles, CA.
In Illinois:
“Americans’ top concern is a rising cost of living. And our legislators, policymakers, and state governments should be laser-focused on making Americans’ lives more affordable—and that has to start with the big ticket items. These are things that matter most to the household budget: housing, education, health and child care, groceries, and utility bills. …President Trump’s policies have been a one-two punch on the cost of living for families. The tariffs have raised costs for families and the big budget bill is poised to raise costs on health care, food, and energy.” – Lindsay Owens, Executive Director of Groundwork Collaborative, on WCPT-FM in Chicago, IL.
In Louisiana:
“People are employed by rural hospitals. Once that hospital closes, the community is lost. Rural hospital closures lead to a community decline—not just healthcare or individual hospitals.” – Gbenga Ajilore, Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, on KADN-TV in Lafayette, LA.
In Massachusetts:
“There are a lot of people in Massachusetts who are out there driving electric cars and hybrid cars, and this bill is going to put a random excise tax on those cars.” – Julie Margetta Morgan, President of the Century Foundation, on NBC Boston, MA.
In Michigan:
“This bill had a large tax cut with most of that benefitting people at the top of the income spectrum and major cuts to healthcare and food assistance. This law extended tax cuts for wealthier people and big corporations but did not extend additional subsidies to middle class families that people will feel in Michigan and all over the country.” – Michael Linden, Senior Policy Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, on WPHM-AM in Port Huron, MI.
“[Republicans] are spending trillions of dollars just on tax breaks for the wealthy which is forcing them to cut programs that low income families rely on… Two in five children and three in five nursing home residents rely on Medicaid. This is not a small number of people—certainly not a program that only affects Democrats.” – Elizabeth Pancotti, Managing Director of Policy & Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, on WJR-AM in Detroit, MI.
In Missouri:
“They’re asking the poorest Americans to tighten their belts, so that the richest Americans can loosen their belts, and that’s what makes it so extra unfair. By putting up so much red tape, tons of people who’re doing everything right fall through the cracks. These are incredibly meager benefits and all of the sudden, lots of people are going to lose them.” – Bobby Kogan, Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress, on Fox 2 TV in St. Louis, MO.
In Nevada:
“According to our estimates, there are over 150,000 residents in Nevada who are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage, 15,000 at risk of losing their healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and 265,000 people that will lose some amount of food assistance under the SNAP program. It’s an extraordinary cost increase for families at a time when lowering costs is the top priority for most Americans.” – Lindsay Owens, Executive Director of Groundwork Collaborative, on Audacity Radio in Las Vegas, NV.
In North Carolina:
“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 515,000 North Carolinians are at risk of losing their Medicaid, 120,000 are at risk of losing their Affordable Care Act Coverage, and 784,000 at risk of losing some of their SNAP benefits. So some pretty dire impacts in North Carolina and the surrounding economies.” – Alex Jacquez, Chief of Policy & Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, on WPTF-AM in Raleigh, NC.
In New York:
“When states have to bear a bigger share of that cost, that means there’s going to be fewer services. That’s going to be one of the big consequences of these cuts.” – Michael Linden, Senior Policy Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, on WENY News in NY and western PA.
In Ohio:
“Medicaid covers about 70 million people nationwide, about half of nursing home care across the country, and covers low income families—especially those with children—and people with disabilities. This bill has made the largest changes to Medicaid—about $1 trillion dollars in cuts. Many, many people will lose their insurance.” – Michael Linden, Senior Policy Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, on WVXU-FM in Cincinnati, OH.
In Pennsylvania:
“The biggest takeaway is that the bill continues down the path of locking Black people out of seeing many of the benefits of the tax code. It will likely increase income and wealth inequality in the long run. It’s going to disadvantage our community.” – Jessica Fulton, Senior Fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, on WURD Radio in Philadelphia, PA.
“I think food pantries are going to expect increased demand. The food stamp program is so much larger than private food pantries are. The largest food pantry in the country provides about one meal for every nine the food stamp program provides. They are still going to need food and they’re going to look for that food at food pantries, and they’re going to feel a really significantly increased demand. I think that’s very likely and many food pantries nationally have said they are not going to be able to keep up with that demand.” – Michael Linden, Senior Policy Fellow with Washington Center for Equitable Growth, on WOLF-TV in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
In South Carolina:
“It’s not like people are getting a check to cover their daily expenses from [the tax law]. This is health insurance [being taken away] that makes sure that if there’s an emergency, you can get taken care of. We don’t have a problem with millions of Americans sitting around not working because they’re satisfied because they have low-cost health insurance coverage.” – Bharat Ramamurti, former Deputy Director of President Biden’s National Economic Council, on Live 5 News in Charleston, SC.
In Texas:
“At risk of losing health insurance is more than half the population of Dallas, nearly two times the population of Arlington. And at risk of losing SNAP, food stamps, that is more than the population of San Antonio. I mean, this is a massive hit to the working class.” – Elizabeth Pancotti, Managing Director of Policy and Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, on 570 KLIF-AM in Dallas, TX.
In West Virginia
“West Virginia has one of the highest SNAP participation rates in the country. West Virginia has one of the highest Medicaid participation rates in the country. Roughly thirty percent of West Virginia is on Medicaid. Roughly twenty percent of West Virginia is on SNAP. And these cuts will kick millions of people off their health insurance and would take food assistance away from millions of families, including, by the way, families with kids as young as ten years old. So some of this is the work requirements, and I just want to say, I’m pro-work. A lot of people are pro-work. The problem with what they’re doing is they end up kind of kicking off lots of folks who are doing everything right.” – Bobby Kogan, Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress, on Metronews in Charleston, WV.
In Wisconsin:
“Right there in Wisconsin, the projections are that more than 250,000 people who are currently on BadgerCare are projected to lose it because of federal cuts to that program. Another 375,000 people are at risk of losing their SNAP benefits. And it’s important to remember that one out of five children in America rely on the SNAP program to get healthy and nutritious food.” – Bharat Ramamurti, former Deputy Director of President Biden’s National Economic Council, on WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee, WI.
“The bill that is now the law makes very large cuts to a couple of pretty important programs that I think a lot of Americans rely on, most notably Medicaid. So that would be BadgerCare in Wisconsin. The bill cuts about a trillion dollars from Medicaid. And about 12 million people nationally will lose their Medicaid coverage because of it. That’s about 260,000 people in Wisconsin who are likely to lose their BadgerCare coverage because of these cuts. The bill also cuts food assistance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. And there are nationally about 3 million families who will lose their benefits. And about 375,000 people in Wisconsin are going to lose their benefits because of these cuts.” – Michael Linden, Senior Policy Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, on WCUB-AM in Greenbay, WI.