The bill has been largely denounced by Congressional Democrats because they say the legislation would threaten access to Affordable Care Act health plans and potentially Medicaid, due to proposed work requirements. According to their assessment, close to 118,000 Mississippians could lose health coverage.
Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson represents Mississippi’s second district.
“Let's take the second district,” he said. “If this legislation was passed, there'd be about 35,000 people that would lose their health care coverage. That's quite a few people. But there’s 10,000 people that would lose Medicaid coverage.”
Thompson says he’s equally concerned with the bill’s suggested work requirements for many SNAP recipients.
“There are some 55,000 households in my district alone that are on SNAP,” he said.”If you look at it based on that demographic alone, that's about 15 percent of the population of my entire congressional district.”
Mississippi’s Republican third district Congressman Michael Guest offers a different perspective. In a statement, he says the bill is essential for saving Mississippians thousands of dollars each year.
His statement goes on to say that if the extension of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act were not to go through, the potential impact could mean “a 24% tax hike on the average taxpayer, 87,850 [Mississippi third district] families’ Child Tax Credit cut in half, and the standard deduction that is taken by 90% of all taxpayers would be slashed in half.”
Still, Thompson believes the bill could heighten inequities in Mississippi, a state where he says many people are not always fortunate to find employment.
“The unemployment rate in a lot of counties in this state is above the national average,” he said. “So in some counties, the jobs are not there. In a lot of communities and municipalities, people have to go long distances in pursuit of work. if no jobs are available, then we should not penalize those individuals because the jobs are not there.”
In his statement, Congressman Guest says the bill would also help the country’s security: helping to secure the border, and making a substantial investment in the country’s armed forces.
Thompson believes the legislation should go in a different direction.
“I think we need to throw the bill out all together and start over,” he said.
A preliminary analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the “big, Beautiful Bill” will increase the federal deficit and nearly $700 billion less in federal spending for Medicaid.
Other members of Mississippi's congressional delegation were unable to be reached for comment. The Trump administration is urging the Senate to pass the bill by July 4.
