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* Click here for reactions to the budget reconciliation bill’s passage. AP…
President Donald Trump’s big bill to cut taxes and reduce federal spending on some social safety net programs could have large implications for states, but for many it’s too late to do much about it this year.
Tuesday marks the start of a new budget year in 46 states. Though some legislatures are still working, most already have adjourned and finalized their spending plans without knowing whether federal funding will be cut and, if so, by how much. […]
Several states have taken preemptive steps, setting aside money in reserves or tasking committees to monitor the impact of federal funding reductions. Others are tentatively planning to return in special sessions this year to account for potential funding cuts to joint federal-state programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Others will have to wait until their legislatures are back in session next year.
The Tribune’s Olivia Olander wrote a nice explainer last month on the $100 million ’safety valve’ Pritzker can use to fill budget holes.
Asked during a campaign stop in Chicago Wednesday about the bill Congress was advancing, and whether Illinois legislators should come back to Springfield to react, [Governor JB Pritzker] said that may not be necessary.
“Just to be clear, many of the provisions that are in the big terrible bill, are provisions that don’t go into effect until perhaps a year plus from now,” Pritzker told reporters.
One area Pritzker anticipates action is if there are fewer federal tax funds for things like the Affordable Care Act.
“We might need to take the funds that are matching funds because they’re going to take away their federal funds, take our matching funds, and figure out how we’re going to distribute those among the critical access and safety net hospitals that are threatened to close as a result of what they’re doing in Washington, D.C.,” Pritzker said.
* WTTW…
In Illinois, 1.9 million residents receive SNAP benefits, including more than 891,000 people in Cook County. Approximately 3.4 million Illinoisans are covered by Medicaid.
The legislation would slash $287 billion from SNAP and more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act over the next decade.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said the loss in federal funding could cost the state $1.2 billion annually.
“The food pantries are going to feel it,” said Danielle Perry, vice president of policy and advocacy at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. “The lines are already long. We’re at the numbers we were during COVID. Can you imagine what will happen when people lose their SNAP benefits?”
The U.S. House gave final passage Thursday to a budget bill that will cut federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $1 trillion over 10 years.
All three Republican members of the Illinois congressional delegation voted in favor of the bill, despite a last-minute plea from Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker who warned the bill will result more than 330,000 Illinoisans losing Medicaid coverage and have a devastating effect on some rural hospitals.[…]
Today, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the [Medicaid] covers about 3.4 million people in Illinois, or a fourth of the state’s population. At a total cost of $33.7 billion a year, it is one of the largest single categories of expenditures in the state’s budget. It pays for about 40% of all childbirths in the state, according to KFF, as well as 69% of all nursing home care. […]
Those include imposing a work requirement on adults enrolled in Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare.” That law expanded eligibility for Medicaid to working-age adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. About 772,000 people in Illinois are enrolled under that program.
The bill also calls for requiring people enrolled through the ACA expansion to verify their continued eligibility for Medicaid twice a year instead of annually. That is expected to filter out enrollees whose incomes rise above the eligibility limit as well as those who simply fail to complete the verification process.
Another provision would limit the ability of states to finance their share of the cost of Medicaid by levying taxes on health care providers. Illinois imposes such taxes on hospitals, nursing facilities and managed care organizations that administer the program. Revenue from those taxes is used to draw down federal matching funds that are then used to fund higher reimbursement rates to health care providers.
The final version of the bill does not, however, include a provision penalizing states like Illinois that also provide state-funded health care to noncitizens who do not have lawful status to be in the United States. That provision, which was included in the earlier House version, was not included in the Senate bill, according to KFF.
* Sun-Times…
The $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that Trump sought would make the current tax rates and brackets permanent, eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, and add a $6,000 deduction for older Americans who make $75,000 or less. It also raises the child tax credit to $2,200.
Workers will be able to deduct $25,000 in tips a year from their income. After that, tips will be federally taxed.
A Congressional Budget Office analysis last month found the wealthiest households would see an average income increase of $12,000 annually, while it will cause low-income Americans to lose $1,600 a year. Middle-income households should see a tax break of between $500 and $1,200.
Consumer watchdogs at the Citizens Utility Board said the measure will mean higher power bills for consumers in Illinois and across the country. […]
The bill ends these tax credits by Dec. 31, 2025. The Joint Economic Committee estimated those tax cuts had helped a typical family save up to $1,080 every year.
* WTTW…
Sarah Garza Resnick, president and CEO of Chicago-based pro-choice advocacy group Personal PAC, said both the judicial decision and Trump’s spending bill will cut access to reproductive care for Medicaid patients, providing them few alternatives. […]
In a statement Thursday, Planned Parenthood of Illinois said it will keep providing all types of sexual health and reproductive services that the organization says patients can’t go without.
“We refuse to stop providing care to our patients even though it’s clear the Republicans in Congress are trying to force us to do so,” Tonya Tucker, interim president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said in a statement. “Over 40% of PPIL patients use Medicaid to cover the cost of their health care and we will not allow people to forgo essential health care!”
…Adding… Gov. JB Pritzker…
Following the signing of Trump and Republicans’ ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ Illinois is raising awareness about the devastating impacts on our working families. This includes draconian cuts and alterations to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which threatens food benefits for an estimated 360,000 Illinoisans, jeopardizes jobs, grocery stores, and harms local economies.
“SNAP has been a crucial federal resource for families trying to put food on the table for more than 60 years, but Trump and Republicans would rather children go hungry so their friends can receive tax cuts,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Here in Illinois, we have been working to combat food insecurity for years, and while no state can backfill these costs, the State of Illinois will continue to fight against these harmful impacts and stand up for working families.”
SNAP has been a permanent, 100% federally-funded food benefit for more than 60 years. The bill threatens SNAP benefits for Illinoisans in three fundamental ways:
- Shifts cost on food benefits to states for the first time since the program’s inception and further threatens benefits if states can’t meet these new funding expectations;
- Strips eligibility from our most vulnerable populations leaving hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans hungry and putting thousands of jobs at risk; and
- Creates new, costly bureaucratic hurdles the state must implement in order to make the cuts. These changes from the federal government will harm hundreds of thousands of working families across Illinois and drastically impact how SNAP functions across the state, leaving veterans, children, unhoused populations, and older adults vulnerable. In FY25, $4.7 billion in SNAP benefits were issued to Illinoisans, supporting over one million households (1.8 million individuals total).
Data from the Food Research and Action Center on SNAP issuance in Illinois indicates that:
- 44,217 veterans are participating in SNAP
- 37% SNAP households have older adults
- 45% SNAP households have children
- 44% SNAP households have a person with a disabilityTrump’s spending bill endangers families that rely on SNAP, stripping their eligibility for assistance and making it harder to put food on the table. The State of Illinois also expects substantial economic harm to reverberate from these cuts, as SNAP supports more than 18,000 jobs in Illinois, across both the grocery and other supporting industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and municipal services.
An overview of the expected impacts in Illinois can be found below.
- Stripping Benefits from Vulnerable Illinoisans: This bill changes eligibility requirements, putting an estimated 360,000 Illinoisans at risk of losing SNAP eligibility, removing work requirement exemptions for 23,000 unhoused, veterans, or youth aged out of foster care in Illinois, and costing Illinois tens of millions to support the additional administrative burden of policy implementation.
- Damaging Local Economies: SNAP supports more than 18,000 jobs in Illinois, across both the grocery and other supporting industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and municipal services. According to the National Grocer’s Association, SNAP supports nearly $1 billion in Illinois wages. The extreme cuts will have far reaching consequences for grocery stores and jobs as fewer SNAP dollars circulate in local economies.
- Destabilizing the Current Funding Framework: This bill would implement a state cost share of food benefits (which have historically been 100% federally funded). Calculated based on the State’s Payment Error Rate (PER), Illinois’ required contribution to SNAP will go from $0 (currently) to $705 million annually.
* More…
* NPR Illinois | Miller, Budzinski vote along party lines on Trump’s megabill: Rep. Miller, a Republican from Oakland in east central Illinois, went along with Trump. “The One Big, Beautiful Bill is a once-in-a-generation victory for the American people,” said Congresswoman Mary Miller. “It delivers on President Trump’s America First agenda with bold, decisive, and immediate action. This is the most pro-worker, pro-family, pro-America legislation I have voted for during my time in Congress, and I was proud to help get it across the finish line for the hardworking Americans across my district.” Miller, in a news release, called it an historic victory for American workers, families, and farmers. It eliminates taxes on tips and overtime, delivers permanent tax relief for small businesses and working families, and expands critical support for American agriculture.
* AP | Rural hospitals brace for financial hits or even closure under Republicans’ $1 trillion Medicaid cut: “Our budget is pretty heavily reliant on the Medicaid reimbursement, so if we do see a cut of that, it’ll be difficult to keep the doors open,” said Sherman, who works at Webster County Community Hospital in the small Nebraska town of Red Cloud just north of the Kansas border. If those facilities close, many locals would see their five-minute trip to Webster County hospital turn into a nearly hour-long ride to the nearest hospital offering the same services.
* Talking Points Memo | Congress Throws More Money at Removing Immigrants than Most Countries Spend on Their Armies: It’s hard to convey just how big the new budget makes the country’s immigration enforcement infrastructure. The Bureau of Prisons? Bigger than that. The FBI? Bigger. The Marine Corps? Bigger even than that, by some estimates. All in all, the bill directs around $170 billion through 2029 to various forms of immigration enforcement, according to an analysis by the American Immigration Council and TPM’s own read of the legislation. ICE, responsible for enforcement, detentions, and removals, will oversee much of the spending.
* KFF Health News | GOP governors stay silent amid plans to slash Medicaid spending in their states: KFF Health News contacted all 19 governors for comment on the legislation’s Medicaid cuts. Only six responded. Most said they backed imposing a work requirement on adult Medicaid enrollees. “Implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults is a good and necessary reform so that Medicaid is being used for temporary assistance and not a permanent entitlement,” said Drew Galang, a spokesperson for Gov. Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia.
* Disability Scoop | Congress Approves Nearly $1 Trillion In Cuts To Medicaid Threatening Disability Services: The Medicaid cuts will take effect at the end of 2026 and roll out over 10 years, according to the American Association of People with Disabilities. “This is a devastating day for disabled Americans,” said Maria Town, the group’s president and CEO. “The catastrophic effects of this bill will reverberate for generations to come.” While the measure does not explicitly include changes to disability services, advocates have been warning for months that there is no way to insulate people with disabilities if the federal government chops its investment in Medicaid.
* Chalkbeat | How Trump’s sweeping tax and domestic policy bill will affect children and schools: “When you take it all together it’s kind of like an assault on children and families policy-wise,” said Megan Curran, the director of policy at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University. “We’re going to see that the effects reverberate well beyond what we’re even understanding” right now, she said, “and schools are going to be on the front lines.” The nearly 900-page bill also creates a new voucher-like program that will pay for private school scholarships — a major victory for school choice advocates who have successfully expanded similar programs in several states, but have previously failed to enact a nationwide version. States will be allowed to opt out.
* IPM | Illinois environmental advocates aim to strengthen ties with lawmakers, increase outreach amid federal policy changes: With recent federal rollbacks on environmental protections during the Trump administration, IEC has stated that it has had to rethink its advocacy strategies. Caldwell said a key focus of the organization is to strengthen its relationships with Republican and Democratic government officials. “Something new that we’re bringing in and beefing up is our federal presence in our state-to-federal work,” [Cate Caldwell, the senior policy manager for the Illinois Environmental Council, said.]“You know, [we are] continuing to relationship-build, continuing to advocate for the policies, continuing to listen to the residents and the people and the constituents that are actually being affected.”
* The Hill | Social Security no taxes message on Trump bill raises eyebrows: President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is sending mixed messages about whether most Americans are required to pay federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits. “It’s a mixed bag for seniors, because some seniors will get some tax relief; the cost of that, though, is borne by the entire Social Security system,” Alex Lawson, executive director of left-leaning advocacy organization Social Security Works, told USA Today.
* AP | What’s in the tax and spending bill that Trump has signed into law: It temporarily would add new tax deductions on tip, overtime and auto loans. There’s also a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year, a nod to his pledge to end taxes on Social Security benefits. It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200. Millions of families at lower income levels would not get the full credit.
posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 9:56 am
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Gutting rural healthcare to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy seems like one of the biggest perversions of the big, ugly bill. Shouldn’t Rep. Bost have yelled and punched some papers to stop it?
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 10:09 am
If all of this was so good for the average person/family then why are we pushing the effective dates until after the next midterm.?.?.?.?.?.?.?
Would we not want voters to experience all this winning before the election to win their votes.?.?.?.?.?.?.?
Truly evil humans
Comment by Bellville Bruce Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 10:20 am
Closing the only hospital for fifty miles to own the libs.
Comment by Irreverent Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 10:23 am
@ Belleville Bruce - when things go south, they’ll pin it on the Democrats, and use the negative press in political ads/campaigns.
Comment by The Dude Abides Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 10:26 am
Rich recently posted an excerpt from the Sun-Times listing nine Illinois hospitals at risk of closure due to the big terrible bill. All nine are in republican districts. Patrick Windhorst has three of them.
I wouldn’t think Pritzker wants to expenditure much political capital on a problem the local legislators are cheerfully supporting, but maybe I’m wrong.
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 10:32 am
@Socially
You are, unfortunately, wrong. We see it over and over again. Disaster aid, industrial programs, you name it. Democrats govern for Republican regions as well as Democratic ones. As much as I wish they would, Democrats never let red voters taste the full flavor of what they voted for.
Comment by Irreverent Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 10:35 am
Some of this sounds a little bit like “Deja vu all over again”
After having vetoed two welfare reform bills, on this day in 1996 President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.
Drafted by Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio) in a GOP-controlled Congress, the act ended welfare as an entitlement program; required recipients to begin working after two years of receiving benefits; placed a lifetime limit of five years on benefits paid by federal funds; sought to encourage two-parent families and to discourage out-of-wedlock births; enhanced enforcement of child support, and required state professional and occupational licenses to be withheld from undocumented immigrants.
Comment by Mason County Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:10 am
Regarding work requirements for the ACA adult population, it’s funny that they’re punishing the people who already have jobs. The ACA population, be definition, makes too much money to be in the “traditional” Medicaid population. They make 100% to 138% of FPL, so in the previous year they had some kind income or maybe they have a part time job, whatever, but a single person would have to make something like $16k to $22k a year. So still quite poor, but they have some source of income already. The people who have no income don’t have to meet the work requirements.
Really a solution in search of a problem.
Comment by Perrid Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:11 am
These cuts were enacted by Republicans who get their taxpayer-paid health insurance even after adding trillions to debt. Republican presidents leave economic messes for Democrats to clean up, and they’re forcing work requirements on the poor to get Medicaid. They should have performance requirements for legislators to get health insurance. /s
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:12 am
==tax cuts for the wealthy==
Many not so wealthy Illinois taxpayers stand to benefit from the SALT deduction limit increase.
Comment by City Zen Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:14 am
The bill’s cuts are so large and the economy and economic outlook are so uncertain, that states can’t make up the cuts. It’s going to be grim for the foreseeable future. Glad I’m a geezer. Sad I’m a father and grandfather.
Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:21 am
==Many not so wealthy Illinois taxpayers stand to benefit from the SALT deduction limit increase.==
Umm, it didn’t increase.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:28 am
It went from $10,000 to $40,000 for households with incomes less than $500,000 in Illinois until 2029
Comment by Johnny B Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 11:37 am
This would have been an opportunity for JB to float a special session to pass transit reform and funding bills. I worry they’re sleepwalking into a transportation disaster.
Comment by DS Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 12:00 pm
=Many not so wealthy Illinois taxpayers stand to benefit from the SALT deduction limit increase.=
Those not so wealthy tax payers tend not to itemize. And if you have the ability to take advantage of a $40K SALT deduction you are, by all objective measures, wealthy.
Comment by Pundent Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 12:09 pm
Most normal taxpayers don’t pay 20K in property taxes.
Comment by Steve Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 1:05 pm
Steve- with our RE taxes being as high as they are- add in the Illinois income tax- most middle income taxpayers who own their home actually will benefit from the increased SALT deductions- the RE taxes on a 500k home which is what many middle income folks own can easily be 12 to 15 thousand in most of the suburbs
Comment by Sue Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 2:34 pm
=most middle income taxpayers who own their home actually will benefit from the increased SALT deductions=
I think you have a very stilted view of “middle income taxpayers.”
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-politics/salt-deduction-do-nothing-90-percent-us-taxpayers-economists-say
Comment by Pundent Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 2:45 pm
You should read beyond the headline
90% of taxpayers don’t live in the high property tax states like Illinois, New York etc.
The average property tax bill
$5,900 in Cook
$6,500 in Mc Henry
$7,600 in Du Page
$7,800 in Lake
Add in state income tax and the average homeowner is well over $10,000
Comment by Johnny B Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 3:37 pm
=Add in state income tax and the average homeowner is well over $10,000=
The average homeowner has and will continue to use the standard deduction. The SALT cap limit only comes into play if you itemize. As the article clearly captures only the highest earners and tax payers will benefit. And yes they tend to be in blue states. And no they aren’t “average” taxpayers by any stretch of the imagination.
Comment by Pundent Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 3:57 pm
Cool stories about the SALT deduction, but the CBO analysis shows what the bill is about. The rich will pay a lot less tax, the poor pay more, and the middle maybe pays a little less. Something is very wrong when representatives will sacrifice foundational institutions like a rural hospital to pay for that.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 4:26 pm
In Illinois 13.7% of population have property tax bills exceeding $10,000
If the property taxes and state income taxes paid exceed the standard deduction it makes sense to itemize
You can then also take advantage of deducting mortgage interest which is much higher for newer homeowners
The SALT limit declines for those making over $500,000 so your comment that only the highest earners benefit is inaccurate
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/who-stands-to-benefit-from-the-new-salt-cap-high-earning-homeowners-in-high-tax-states-204904190.html
Comment by Johnny B Monday, Jul 7, 25 @ 4:26 pm