"They'll get over it"

How the Republicans' Big Ugly Bill will impact Missourians

Jul 12, 2025

In another blow to the working class and poor, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed Friday July 4th, delivering tax cuts for the ultra rich while adding 3.8 trillion dollars to the national debt. Megabills like this one are toxic because congress members can easily sneak in items that would otherwise not stand on their own.

The bill was too big for MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to read, and she was disappointed and shocked to learn that she voted for a provision that takes away states’ abilities to regulate AI. I would hope that our elected officials would read their bills before voting on them, but perhaps it was too ugly for the Republicans to face harm that they are about to inflict on their constituents. The Senate later took the A.I. provision out along with another that would allow the sale of public land (phew), but there is plenty left about this to hate.

Support for green energy programs. This takes away programs that support reducing Green House Gas Emissions and takes away the tax credit for EVs and energy efficient heating and cooling systems (Hubbard & Yilek, 2025).
12 million Americans will lose Health Insurance by 2034 (Galewitz et al., 2025). One way they will achieve this is through creating major levels of bureaucracy and paperwork (which also costs taxpayer money).
- Obamacare recipients will no longer be autoenrolled for their benefits, and will need to re-enroll every year.
- Medicaid recipients will be required to provide documentation stating that they are working at least 80 hours per month. This can be very difficult for people who work multiple part time jobs.
Rural hospitals will be forced to close down. The GOP cut provider taxes, which hospitals pay for state Medicaid costs that are matched by the federal government. It helps keep hospitals afloat, especially in rural communities.
Food Stamps, or SNAP benefits, will be cut for 40 million Americans, including 16 million children (Konish, 2025). Recipients can lose up to $100 per month, which is devastating to our neighbors who are struggling.
Federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides healthcare to low-income families across the country.

Who benefits from this bill?

ICE and the Prison Industrial Complex. Jonathan V. Last from the Bulwark (2025) wrote an excellent piece about the creation of the American Police State through the reinvention of ICE. From JVL’s reporting, ICE previously operated on a budget of $8 billion per year. In this new bill they have added:
- $3.5 billion in additional funds for 2026.
- $29.85 billion over the next few years to expand personnel.
- $45 billion for more ICE prisons.
- $0 to fund judges to make sure immigrants have due process and move through the justice system.
The Ultra-Wealthy. According to the Hill:
- The top 0.1 percent with Incomes up to $5 million will receive a 3.5% increase on their after-tax income.
- Higher-end incomes between $460,000 and $1.1 million will receive the biggest tax break at $21,000. That is a 4.4% after-tax increase on income!
- Higher-end incomes between $318,000 and $460,000 will receive a tax break of $8,900- a 3.5% increase in income.
- Higher-end earners making between $217,000 and $318,000 will receive a tax break of $5,400- a 3.2% increase in income.
- Middle-incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 will receive a significantly smaller income increase at 2.5%, which is around a $3,000 tax break.
- Middle-income earners making $75,000-$100,000 will see only $1,500 extra in their pockets.
- Middle-Income earners making $50,000-$70,000 will only see an increase after taxes of $1,000!
- Low income earners making between $40,000 and $50,000 will gain an after-tax bump of $630.
- Those making less than $34,600 per year will only gain an extra $150, which will likely be offset by the loss of healthcare benefits.
Big Pharma. According to the New York Times, The government will no longer be allowed to negotiate prices for a wider range of drugs.
Tax companies like H&R Block and Turbo Tax. This bill aims to get rid of free tax filing services provided by the IRS.

There is much more that is not covered above, and you can read the official summary of the bill here.

What we are seeing is possibly one of the biggest transfers of wealth & resources from the lower classes to the rich in American history. And why? The purpose of this bill is to advance the goal of this administration: deport all immigrants, regardless of their status and make the rich richer. Need medicaid for life-saving drugs? Need SNAP benefits to feed your family? Too bad. They will stop at nothing to get their billionaire friends more money and remove brown immigrants from this country. That’s what this Megabill is about.

Impact on Missouri

Trump’s megabill will have a devastating impact on Missourians, and it will impact the communities that overwhelmingly supported Trump for the past 3 elections.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 130,000 to 160,000 Missourians will lose health insurance every year (Miller and Kong, 2025).
Missouri receives ⅔ of its Medicaid budget from the federal government. Without these matches, rural communities will see the closure of their few remaining hospitals. Hospitals are some of the largest employers for small towns, and closures will lead to job losses in those communities (Miller and Kong, 2025).
Missouri will be required to pay $160 million towards SNAP benefits that were once covered by the federal government (Keller, 2025).
The loss of SNAP benefits will impact the most vulnerable Missourians, and other Nonprofits who normally fill in the gaps of society are also seeing cuts to funding. People will go hungry under Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill.

Below is a chart from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for Missouri’s 2024 SNAP data.

Two perspectives from St. Louisans

The incoming impacts of the GOP’s megabill are creating panic and fear among our most at-risk neighbors in St. Louis. Here are two of their stories (names omitted per their request):

An aunt worries about her nephew with mental health needs

A loving aunt is concerned about her adult nephew, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early 20s. For now, he is covered by his mom’s insurance, but when he turns 26, he will lose those benefits. Unfortunately, he does not qualify for Social Security/Disability, so under this new bill, he will need to work 80 hours per week for medical care. His daily medication is $2,000 per pill, and he relies on psychiatry and counseling services to keep him safe. His mom is a single working mother. Even with his medication, he still struggles with psychosis, which makes holding down a job very tough. His life will be at serious risk if he loses access to healthcare.

Perspective from a local social worker

A local social worker told me that many of her clients are scared by Trump’s megabill. She assists people with substance abuse and mental health issues who are trying to get their lives back on track. Many of them cannot work 80 hours per month. One of her clients finally got a job that she loves as a caregiver, but she can only work 15 hours per week. If she is forced to take on more to keep her healthcare, she will be at risk for backsliding on all the progress she made.

The Republican Response

There are more stories like this from the most vulnerable individuals in our community. The GOP is turning their backs on them, without caring that many will die. Here are some comments from our leaders in the Republican Party:

“We’re all going to die”- Republican Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s response to a concerned constituent who said the GOP’s Medicaid cuts will result in death. She later posted a fake apology video from a graveyard saying that she did not realize that people were unaware that they will one day die.

“Do I like this bill? No. But I tried to take care of Alaska’s interests. But I know in many parts of the country that there are Americans that are not going to be advantaged by this bill. I don’t like that.” - Alaskan Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski on why she caved to Trump and voted for this bill.

“I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid, but they’ll get over it.”- Republican Kentucky Senator, Mitch McConnell.

And finally, Missouri’s own Josh Hawley had much to say about this bill before its passage. He was not a fan of his constituents losing their Medicaid, and even wrote an op-ed in the New York Times urging Republicans to vote against it. Here’s one excerpt:

“Republicans need to open their eyes: Our voters support social insurance programs. More than that, our voters depend on those programs. And there’s a reason for this that Republicans would do well to ponder. Our economy is increasingly unfriendly to working people and their families.”

So why did Josh Hawley end up voting for a bill that he knew would harm his voters? Because the Medicaid and SNAP cuts will not go into effect until 2028, and they expect that it will be the Democrats’ problem by then. By the time the Medicaid cuts are implemented, our forgetful society will blame whoever is in front of their face and not who caused the problems in the first place. Hawley’s strategy shows that he is the working class champion only when it suits him politcally. I’m sure the Republicans have a plan on messaging for when these cuts go into effect, and it is the Democrats’ responsibility to get the truth out to the public so we can win back seats and fix this mess.

Finally, I leave you with a prayer from the aunt in the story above for anyone who faces a situation similar to her nephew’s: