Dear friend, it’s your Congresswoman, Gwen Moore. I am writing to give you the real tea on the conservative tax and budget bill (aka "Big Beautiful Bill"), now signed into law.This massive legislation will impact nearly every American. It’s vital that you understand what is at stake, especially as conservatives continue to misrepresent their cuts to programs like BadgerCare and SNAP.What’s at StakeLet me be clear: The conservative Congress's “big beautiful bill” makes more than a trillion in cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). One of the ways this legislation cuts health care in Wisconsin is by reducing the amount of federal funds that support BadgerCare, which will likely decrease the number of people served by BadgerCare. These amount to the largest cuts to BadgerCare and Medicaid in history!Many of our friends and neighbors depend on BadgerCare. It provides health insurance for more than 1 in 3 children in our state and more than half of all nursing home residents. It provides a critical source of health care coverage for kids with complex medical needs, including many covered by commercial insurance.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that nationwide, nearly 10 million people could lose their health care due to cuts in Medicaid programs. An additional 5 million Americans could lose their health care due to changes to the Affordable Care Act, including the expiration of ACA premium tax credits. In Wisconsin, these cuts could force our state to make impossible choices on what services to provide, putting BadgerCare at risk for more than 1 million Wisconsinites.  The conservative majority in Congress also hailed work requirements for BadgerCare and similar health programs, as a necessary policy, suggesting that many recipients are lazy and spend most of their time watching tv or playing video games. Research debunks these claims, as shown in the pie chart below. Most people using Medicaid (BadgerCare) who can work do work and those who cannot have caregiving responsibilities, attend school, or have an illness or disability, as shown below.This new red tape masquerading as work requirements does not typically increase employment but will vastly increase spending on administrative costs for states and could cause eligible individuals to lose coverage. In 2018, when Arkansas implemented work requirements, 18,000 Arkansans lost their health care, and it failed to meaningfully improve employment levels, according to the Urban Institute.According to the state’s Department of Health Services, a work requirement policy could cause 63,000 Wisconsinites to lose their BadgerCare coverage.The "Big Beautiful Bill" will also make major changes to the SNAP (FoodShare in Wisconsin) program. These policies would force Wisconsin and other states to shoulder the costs of FoodShare benefits for the first time ever.  SNAP payment error rates measure a states' payment accuracy and are not fraud. These errors can happen when a person’s income changes month to month. Conservatives have criticized states with high error rates, but this legislation would allow states with the highest payment error rates to delay additional cost-sharing for two years. Even though Wisconsin has one of the lowest payment error rates in the country, the bill would force Wisconsin taxpayers to come up with hundreds of millions for SNAP or Wisconsin would be faced with cutting eligibility or withdrawing from the program altogether. In any case, this will worsen hunger in our communities. In total, the conservatives' bill could jeopardize FoodShare benefits for up to 90,000 Wisconsinites, according to state estimates. Cuts to SNAP and Medicaid would also cost some children their current access to school meals programs, as those who are eligible for those programs can be directly certified for school meals! Protecting SNAP for Veterans, Youth Aging out of Foster Youth, and Individuals Experiencing HomelessnessThe "big beautiful bill" jeopardizes SNAP benefits for veterans, youth aging out of foster care, and individuals experiencing homelessness. This bill eliminated SNAP paperwork requirement exemptions for these individuals. As a result, these vulnerable populations will now only receive SNAP benefits for three months in the span of three years unless they comply with work requirements or qualify for another exemption. I am leading efforts to restore these exemptions and protect these vital SNAP benefits.Medicare CutsAnd don't be fooled by arguments that this bill doesn't impact Medicare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, because the "big beautiful bill" increases federal debt significantly over the next decade, it will trigger mandatory cuts to a host of programs. For Medicare, those cuts will total around $490 billion (ranging from $45 billion to $75 billion annually over the next decade) if legislation to waive or offset the deficit impact of this bill is not enacted. The "Big Beautiful Bill" Will Benefit the Wealthy, and Cut Critical Health and Nutrition Services for Working People This legislation cuts SNAP and BadgerCare while at the same time, providing permanent tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and large corporations. In fact, most of the tax provisions that do reach working people are only temporary and would expire in three years, such as no tax on tips. The benefits also disproportionately flow to the wealthy. With the conservatives' budget bill aka Big Beautiful Act, the top one-tenth of one percent of the wealthy will receive $309,000 in tax benefits in 2027 alone while individuals earning $50,000 or less only gain $247, according to Ways and Means Committee Minority staff.    Spiking the DeficitThis bill will drastically increase the nation’s deficits. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan federal agency that provides economic analysis of legislation, estimates that the "Big Beautiful Bill" would increase the deficit by $3.3 trillion over the 2025-2034 period, without taking into account how the bill would affect the economy. Our Office is Here to HelpAs always, my office is here to help. If you are a resident of WI-04 and need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my district office 414-297-1140. Your friend,GwenIf you would like to stay updated with me, click here.Opt-out of future messages here.image widget