Work continues in the U.S. Senate on what Donald Trump calls his big beautiful budget bill. Critics are concerned about possible cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP nutrition program. Alabama Medicaid says about a quarter of state residents gets health coverage this way. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says three quarters of a million Alabamians use SNAP. Aprielle Hartsfield is Director of Kids Count Alabama. She says cutting benefits after the COVID outbreak showed the damage that Trump’s bill might do…
“As we started to withdraw those those supports, the families who had not completely reached stability, economic stability, they were put back into the economic situation they were in,” she said
The massive tax and spending cuts package that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would also loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of rifles and shotguns. It advances a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill. The House bill would remove silencers from a 1930s law that regulates firearms that are considered the most dangerous, eliminating a $200 tax on the accessories and also removing a layer of background checks. But, as to the impact on Alabamians receiving Medicaid or SNAP benefits, Aprielle Hartsfield at Kids Count Alabama says there are myths to deal with, like able bodied people getting help.
“For the most part, the programs are really working to help families who have suddenly the head of the household, or both parents, or, you know, whoever is working in the house has suddenly lost their job unexpectedly, or there is a serious illness That is, you know, unexpected,” she said.
The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants. Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the climate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation.
