Davids opposes partisan bill that slashes health care, food to benefit billionaires
Today, Representative Sharice Davids released the following statement after voting against President Trump and U.S. House Republicans’ extreme budget that cuts health care and raises grocery prices for hardworking families to pay for tax giveaways for billionaires and ultrawealthy corporations.
“Simply put, President Trump’s extreme budget hurts everyone who isn’t already a billionaire,” said Davids. “It hands out tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy while gutting Medicaid, raising grocery prices, and putting rural hospitals and reproductive health care at risk — all while adding trillions to the national debt. I was raised by a single mom in the Army, so I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. This proposal would only make it harder for families like the one I grew up in. Kansans deserve responsible leadership, not reckless cuts and partisan gimmicks — that’s why I’m focused on a commonsense, bipartisan path forward that actually lowers costs, supports small businesses, and grows our economy responsibly.”
Background:
President Trump and U.S. House Republicans pushed a budget that would make the largest cuts to Medicaid and emergency food assistance in American history — all to fund tax giveaways for billionaires. These extreme cuts would gut programs that help Kansans afford food and stay healthy. In contrast, Davids supports a commonsense tax framework to lower costs for Kansas’ hardworking families, support small businesses, and strengthen our long-term economy.
How This Bill Hurts Kansans: Raising costs on the middle class so billionaires pay less
- HIGHER Health Care Costs: The Joint Economic Committee estimates 92,937 Kansans will lose health care coverage under this reckless bill, including those on Medicaid. These cuts put six rural hospitals across Kansas at risk of closing and would increase Affordable Care Act premiums by $780 for people in Kansas’ Third District.
- HIGHER Grocery Costs:In Kansas’ Third District alone, 15,000 households could lose access to the emergency food assistance they rely on through this bill. Also, local grocery stores nationwide may be forced to close due to lost revenue, worsening food deserts, especially in rural communities. These cuts would reduce farm income by more than $25 billion and threaten good-paying jobs.
- HIGHER Utility Bills: Davids previously supported tax credits that are helping Kansans save on their energy bills, supporting farmers, and creating thousands of good-paying jobs across the state. But now, this budget proposal would gut those cost-saving policies — including some that even Republicans have backed. It’s projected to eliminate 10,000 manufacturing and energy jobs in Kansas and raise annual energy costs by $670 per household.
- LOWER Reproductive Health Care Access: This bill would gut access to reproductive health care by putting nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers in 24 states at risk of closure — making it harder for 1.1 million patients to get lifesaving care like cancer screenings, birth control, abortion services, and more. 90 percent of those closures would happen in states where abortion is legal and protected, including Kansas.
- HIGHER Deficit: The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reported that this Trump-backed bill would add $3.3 trillion to the national deficit through 2034. Such high levels of borrowing could substantially boost interest rates, slow economic growth, and spark a debt spiral.
- LOWER Taxes for Billionaires: The Republican budget actually raises taxes on the lowest-income families in the country, all while billionaires who already pay next to nothing in taxes get more breaks. The top 0.1 percent stands to gain $309,000, or $847 every day, in 2027 alone. This bill shows exactly where U.S. House Republicans’ loyalties lie: not with the hardworking Americans who sent them to Congress, but to Trump and their billionaire donors.
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