THE GORGE — Before the House passed President Donald Trump’s signature spending package, Oregon Democrats in Congress, along with Governor Tina Kotek, warned of its “devastating” impacts during a press conference last Wednesday, repeating a common refrain: working families lose, billionaires win.
Rep. Maxine Dexter
Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District
Sen. Jeff Merkley
Oregon U.S. Senator
The “big, beautiful bill” extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which will raise after-tax incomes for the highest-earning 10% of American households by an average of 2.3% annually, while lowering incomes for the poorest tenth by 3.9%, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office. The budget bill also slashes over $1.2 trillion from Medicaid and food stamps, rolls back clean energy subsidies, sets aside about $170 billion for immigration enforcement and will increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade.
“We are turning our backs on the working class, on the people who need us most,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District. “Instead of using our power to help people, Republicans are ripping away healthcare and food assistance to once again finance tax breaks for billionaires.”
Dexter explained how she proposed amendments to protect social services on the House floor, but Republicans struck down each one, citing “waste, fraud and abuse.” Apart from Rep. Cliff Bentz, who serves essentially all residents east of the Cascades, Oregon’s congressional delegation voted against the bill.
“They proceeded to set up a system here that is going to have an enormous impact on rural America,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley. “We know that Cliff Bentz’s district has the highest rate of Medicaid participation [in the state] at 42%.”
Across Oregon, 11 rural hospitals face immediate or future risk of closing as a result of the bill, including those in Madras and Hermiston, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. The Oregon Health Authority estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 residents will lose Medicaid coverage, primarily because of work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks. Stemming from similar “red tape,” the bill strips food assistance from 108,000 Oregonians and cuts $160 from a typical family’s monthly grocery budget, according to a statewide nonprofit (see related story).
“Every single year, Oregonians pay federal taxes, and those dollars come back to our state through vital services,” said Kotek. “The Trump administration and Republicans have broken and will break and are breaking that system.”
Kotek noted that she’s directed state agencies to immediately evaluate every granular impact of the bill on Oregonians.
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