On May 22 House Republicans passed a reconciliation bill that will worsen hunger and strip health care coverage from millions of families to partially offset trillions in tax cuts for the wealthy. The bill now advances to the Senate. It includes the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history and takes away food assistance and health coverage from lawfully present immigrants. In response, Maryland Center on Economic Policy President and CEO Benjamin Orr issued the following statement:
“The House Republicans’ reconciliation bill would leave tens of thousands of Marylanders worse off and undermine the state’s ability to provide basic services, all to help fund huge new tax breaks for a handful of ultra-wealthy households and large, profitable corporations. This bill abandons our shared vision of creating a country where everyone has a fair shot at opportunity, and reverses decades of progress towards that vision.
While the numbers alone are staggering, behind those numbers are real people – parents who won’t be able to afford enough food for themselves and their children, families becoming homeless because they had to spend limited funds on health care or food instead of rent, seniors having to forgo life-saving medications in order to eat. These cruel policies don’t reflect our values as Marylanders.
Beyond those who would directly lose much-needed economic supports, this legislation would harm all Marylanders, driving up the cost of health care for everyone, making it harder for hospitals and nursing homes to stay in business, and making it harder for the state to invest in education, transportation, and other priorities due to massive cost shifts for these programs.
We are proud that none of Maryland’s delegation voted in support of the horrific House bill, although disappointed that Rep. Andy Harris indicated his vote was because he wanted to cut even more from these essential safety net programs. We now need Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks to continue to stand up for Marylanders and demonstrate a real commitment to help struggling people in this country by rejecting this reckless plan and urging their colleagues to do the same.”
Additional Information About the Reconciliation Bill
Key details include:
- More than $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces over ten years, resulting in about 15 million people losing health care coverage. An estimated 143,000 could lose coverage in Maryland from just one of the major provisions of the bill.
- Nearly $300 billion in cuts to SNAP, which would take away or cut food assistance for millions of people including 2 million or more children. In Maryland, an estimated 71,000 people could lose food assistance while $75 million to $373 million in costs for providing food assistance could shift to the state.
- An average tax cut of $69,000 for the wealthiest 1% of households, those earning more than $920,000 per year, while low-income households receive an average of just $140 from the tax cuts — and bear the brunt of cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, as well as the costs of higher tariffs.
- Millions of children in working families with low incomes left out of even the temporary increase in the Child Tax Credit.
Learn more about the impact of the House budget reconciliation bill on Maryland families and the state budget in MDCEP’s recent blog posts:
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Media Contact: Kali Schumitz, 410-412-9105 ext. 701
About Maryland Center on Economic Policy
The Maryland Center on Economic Policy advances innovative policy ideas to foster broad prosperity and help our state be the standard-bearer for responsible public policy. We engage in research, analysis, strategic communications, public education, and grassroots alliances promoting robust debate and greater public awareness of the policy choices Maryland residents face together. mdeconomy.org