H.R.1 is One Big Bill, but It’s Not Beautiful

Here’s what you need to know and why you should contact your U.S. House Representative immediately.

So, what is H.R.1?

This is a sweeping federal package of tax, spending, and policy changes introduced by House Republicans as their signature legislation for this Congress. It’s full name is H.R.1 – One Big Beautiful Bill Act. You can read the bill in its entirety here.

Some Key Components of the Big Beautiful Bill:

• Extends Trump-era tax cuts that were scheduled to expire.
  ^{(Source: Tax Foundation)}
• Adds new tax breaks (including deductions for tips, overtime, and higher standard deductions)
• Increases military and border security funding by hundreds of billions over 10 years.
• Cuts funding for Medicaid and SNAP, imposing stricter work requirements for recipients.
  ^{(Sources: Kaiser Family Foundation, CBPP)}
• Reduces or repeals green energy tax credits.
  ^{(Source: CBPP)}
• Restricts state-level regulation of artificial intelligence.
• Reduce spending on health and food assistance programs to partly offset the cost.
• Adds $3–5 trillion to the national debt over 10 years due to tax cuts and spending increases.
  ^{(Source: Tax Foundation)}

Why This Should Concern Everyone, Regardless of Party

You might be celebrating as a conservative that this bill passed the Senate. This is where I encourage you to pause and think carefully about whether it reflects your values.

We can agree that government spending is out of control on Capitol Hill, but the reason this bill is concerning lies in the details and it will hurt U.S. Citizens, whether you’re Democratic or Conservative.

If you believe in fiscal responsibility, the deficit alone should make you pump the brakes and pause. This is deeply, fiscally irresponsible. Even more troubling, for every amendment added, the price tag gets even higher.

If you want government accountability, this bill spends hundreds of billions without clear oversight. We should know exactly where and how, down to the penny, our tax dollars are being spent. This will only loosen the already lax oversight we have now.

If you care about local control, the AI restrictions in this bill are a step backward. AI will need thoughtful regulation sooner rather than later. If you’ve ever said, “AI scares me,” you should be opposing this bill.

Here’s where we’re probably going to disagree, but I hope you’ll stick with me for a few more moments. If you believe these cuts to healthcare and food assistance will only hurt a few bad apples who are wrongly getting benefits, or that you shouldn’t have to pay taxes for these programs, I want you to really consider the next section.

Why Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP Will Hurt Everyone, Even if You Support Spending Cuts

On paper, reducing Medicaid and SNAP funding sounds like a way to rein in spending. But in reality, these programs are a lifeline that keep hospitals, grocery stores, and local economies afloat, especially in small towns and rural areas (NRHA). If you know me personally, then you may know we live in a very small town, and our nearest hospitals have already lost important departments like pediatric surgery. That may not sound like an urgent matter right now, but when your child is having a seizure from a tumor or suddenly has appendicitis, or really is just a kid being a kid, all parents understand how vital reputable hospitals are.

When people lose coverage or benefits, they don’t stop needing care or food. They show up at emergency rooms without insurance, driving up costs for everyone. They turn to food banks and churches for help, stretching already thin resources. Local hospitals, many of which are the largest employers in their counties, are forced to cut staff or close altogether.

These cuts don’t just impact the bad apples. They impact veterans, seniors, children, and working families right here in our own communities, and when more of our neighbors struggle, we all feel it: through higher healthcare costs, more strain on schools and charities, and less stability in the local economy.

You never know when you will need these benefits until life thrusts you into something you never planned for.

Maybe it’s a cancer diagnosis, a devastating accident, or a disease like ALS that changes every plan you ever made. No one expects to need Medicaid or SNAP until the day comes when they do, and by then, it’s too late to wish we had protected the programs that keep people afloat. These safety nets exist because life doesn’t always go according to plan, and taking them away doesn’t build strength, it just leaves more families vulnerable when they’re already fighting to survive.

I also don’t want to gloss over veterans and military families who rely on Medicaid and SNAP. Over a million veterans depend on Medicaid for essential healthcare that VA benefits do not fully cover (KFF), and more than a million rely on SNAP to help feed their families (CBPP). Cutting these programs doesn’t honor their service, it leaves them struggling when they’ve already sacrificed so much for our country.

So where does this leave us?

It leaves us between a rock and a hard place, but the good news is this isn’t over yet.

Even though the House and Senate have passed the bill in their chambers, it must return to the House for a final vote because of the numerous changes the Senate made.

This is where we remind our congressional representatives that they work for us. If you’d like to contact your U.S. House Representative to oppose this bill, you can visit house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative to look up your representative and get their contact information.

This bill does not have to pass, and remember Congress can, and should, make a new bill that we mostly agree upon.

I’m so glad we can agree that this bill is simply too big to pass.

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