Oregon Democrats slam Republicans’ ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ say it would cost many Oregonians health care, food aid
Harley Coldiron
(Update: adding video)
The entire press conference, livestreamed on KTVZ+, can be viewed in full by clicking the video above.
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — At a virtual press conference Wednesday afternoon, a wide array of top Oregon Democrats slammed President Trump’s budget proposal bill, which they warned would lead to thousands of Oregonians losing health care coverage and food assistance, while slashing taxes for billionaires and corporations.
The White House and Republican congressional leadership are vigorously defending the bill. “The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay,” House GOP leaders said in a joint statement.
The bill would eliminate taxes for tips and overtime, while also slashing taxes for high-income earners and corporations. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says it will add nearly four trillion to the national debt.
To help pay for this, the bill would increase work requirements for those on Medicaid and require them to prove their eligibility twice a year.
The cuts would take a particular toll on people in rural areas who are more likely to receive their health insurance through Medicaid. Here in Central Oregon, one in every three residents use Medicaid for health care coverage. Many of them are children and families.
Oregon’s senators, governor, and congressional representatives all blasted the bill, including District 5 (D) Rep.Janelle Bynum, who said, “This bill is trash. T-R-A-S-H. Trash.” She added, “This bill will have devastating impacts for Oregonians. It will cause our rural hospitals to close, it will make health care more expensive and less accessible. It cuts SNAP, forcing seniors and kids to go hungry.”
Many speakers during the online news conference called on Oregon’s only Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz to vote no on the bill. Assuming all Democrats vote against the bill, Republicans can only afford for three Republicans to defect.
Gov. Tina Kotek said she has spoken with Rep.Bentz this week and told him to consider “the impacts on his district,” which consists of very rural areas of Eastern Oregon and parts of Central Oregon.
KTVZ News did reach out to hear his perspective, though we did not immediately hear back.
Other congressional Republicans say the bill helps fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to cut taxes. Some Republican hardliners did vote against the bill in the Senate, saying it adds too much to the national debt.
Congressional Democrats in the virtual press conference also focused their concerns on how the eligibility and work requirements could lead to thousands of Oregonians losing their medicaid coverage.
“I’m ready to take the fight to every committee room, every courtroom, and every newsroom to do it,” Rep. Bynum said, her voice full of emotion.
Governor Kotek and Rep. Salinas expressed their concerns about cuts to food programs, such as SNAP. Nearly 800,000 Oregonians receive SNAP, many of whom are family households with multiple children.
Rep.Salinas said Republicans aren’t voting on the bill based on policy but rather, “a loyalty test to Donald Trump”, adding she wasn’t confident her republican colleagues would “find a backbone.”
Senator Jeff Merkley joined others who said the Senate version of the bill was even worse than the one the House passed earlier.
“I know my House colleagues will do all they can to not accept the bill as the Senate passed it,” Merkley said. “This is not done. We still have a chance to kill this horrific bill that hurts families and helps billionaires.”
The revised bill now heads to another vote in the House of Representatives, with a vote expected sometime in the next few days.