House Speaker Mike Johnson (third from left) celebrates with fellow Republicans after the final passage of Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill. (AP pic under a CC BY 4.0 license).
Republicans pushed through one of the most sweeping federal budget bills in recent memory Thursday, delivering President Donald Trump a legislative victory ahead of the July 4 holiday.
At nearly 900 pages, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes deep tax cuts for corporations and high-income earners, while reducing funding for Medicaid, food assistance programs, and clean energy incentives by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. It also increases spending on national defense and immigration enforcement.
“There is nothing beautiful about a bill that was written to crush the poorest people under the boots of the wealthiest,” said Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. “It is an ugly act to take healthcare away from more than 17 million Americans—one that will lead to preventable deaths and meaningless pain.”
Gov. JB Pritzker described the legislation as “historic cuts” and pledged to “do everything in my power to help protect you.”
The bill passed the House on Thursday (July 3) by a narrow 218–214 vote. In the Senate, it split 50–50 before Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote. It now heads to President Trump for his signature.
Illinois officials, union leaders, and advocacy groups have criticized the bill, citing concerns about its impact on low-income families, seniors, and underserved communities. Many warned the legislation could lead to reduced access to healthcare, higher utility costs, and further strain on public services.
Their message is the same: Illinois must brace for impact—and find its own way to protect care, food security and public services—once the bill becomes law.
Statement from Gov. JB Pritzker:
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans just passed historic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and so much more. We’re going to have to pull together to overcome these challenges. I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to help protect you.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans just passed historic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and so much more.
We’re going to have to pull together to overcome these challenges.
I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to help protect you. pic.twitter.com/W2Lw3VEnua
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) July 3, 2025
Statement from Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton
“There is nothing beautiful about a bill that was written to crush the poorest people under the boots of the wealthiest.
“It is an ugly act to take healthcare away from more than 17 million Americans—one that will lead to preventable deaths and meaningless pain. It is an ugly act to take food out of the mouths of children—one that will lead to avoidable starvation. And it is an ugly act to force this bill on Americans who have made it undeniably clear that this is not what we want.
“The passage of Trump’s budget is not a surprise, but it is a confirmation of the GOP’s values. This is the same party who looked their own constituents in the eyes and said, ‘we’re all going to die.’ The same people who told us that our health is ‘immaterial’ and we’ll ‘get over it.’
“Do not expect this administration to fight for you—expect them to fight against you. Here in Illinois, the Pritzker-Stratton administration is full steam ahead, fighting to protect our people from the cruelty and chaos coming out of this White House.”
Statement from U.S. Rep Danny K. Davis:
“I rise in strong opposition and could never vote for this Big, Bad, Inhumane, and Ugly bill because it will wreck health care delivery, take food from hungry children, sentence seniors to early deaths, eliminate jobs, and destabilize our economy just to give the super rich and wealthy more influence, more power, more wealth. It takes from the poor, from the disabled, from the sick, and from the hungry and gives to the wealthy.
This bill is cruel.
It is immoral.
It is a crime about to happen.
It is draconian.
It is dangerous.
It is criminal.
So, if you want to stop crime, vote no as I will.”
Statement from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle:
“Today, Congress passed a bill that strips nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid over the next ten years while delivering enormous tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and powerful corporations. This legislation puts health care further out of reach for tens of thousands of Cook County residents, including working families, seniors, people with disabilities and communities already facing the greatest barriers to care.
Nationally, experts estimate that as many as 12 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage if this bill becomes law. Here in Cook County, we estimate our health system stands to lose at least $88 million each year in Medicaid reimbursement as patients lose insurance, threatening critical services and stability for those who rely on them most.
This is a reckless and unjust decision that favors the wealthy over the basic well-being of everyday Americans. I urge our leaders at the federal level to consider the real harm this bill will cause, reverse course and stand up for the fundamental principle that health care should be accessible to all, not just the privileged among us.”
Statement from SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas President Greg Kelley:
“As a union of caregivers, today’s vote is a profound disappointment and a direct attack on the work we do every day to care for others. Congress’s decision to slash Medicaid funding to give tax breaks to billionaires and supercharge Trump’s mass deportation agenda isn’t just a policy choice. It’s a moral failure that will rip healthcare away from millions, put thousands of jobs at risk and throw our healthcare system into chaos.
But this isn’t a time for despair. This is the moment our voices matter most. When we come together across race and background as community members, caregivers, and union members, we can still fight back. We can push state and local leaders to protect care where Washington failed.
It’s time for Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas to step up and be leaders. We need to show that we can care for each other no matter who is in the White House. We’re demanding our state legislators and governors make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes to help ensure everyone has access to healthcare even as our federal government rips it away. This is a moral imperative and a practical solution to fund essential services like healthcare, nursing homes, and home care, ensuring that every family has the care they need.
We’ve seen what’s possible when we act together—and we won’t stop now. When we fight, we win.”
Statement from the Chicago Teachers Union and President Stacy Davis Gates:
“Whether you live in Lincoln Park, Avalon Park, or a few miles from Everglades National Park in Florida, the Big Beautiful Bill is anything but. This is a cruel and ugly piece of legislation that will devastate our families across this country.
For some, it means the closure of their local hospital—a lifeline in already neglected neighborhoods and rural communities. For single mothers, it means losing food assistance for their children or for seniors it means critical healthcare coverage loss. At its core, this bill disappears any semblance of a safety net. A safety net that has kept Americans safe, healthy, and stable for generations. The wealthy and well-connected have more influence over Congress than the families they’re supposed to represent.
Months ago, alongside our partners at the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, we sounded the alarm about a dangerous provision buried deep in the bill: the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a massive federal school voucher scheme tailor-made for millionaires and billionaires. But educators, parents, students, and community members organized. We lobbied. We rallied. We wrote letters and made calls. And together, we made it less terrible.
This bill, now on its way to the President’s desk, will do real harm to students and families in Chicago and across Illinois. At a time when Governor Pritzker and our state lawmakers continue to stubbornly withhold critical funding for schools and other vital services, putting them below funding levels from 25 years ago — underfunding CPS by $1.2 Billion and all of Illinois’ schools by $2.7 Billion — this Trump-backed legislation will only create more chaos for our schools and our children.
Since Trump’s reelection, we’ve warned Governor Pritzker, lawmakers in Springfield, CPS leadership, and city officials about the danger the president’s policies pose to our school communities. And while our historic contract helps shield students by making classrooms a forcefield of protection, this bill threatens to gut school-based healthcare, worsen food insecurity, and push the American Dream even further out of reach.
Moments like this must clarify for state legislators the need for a legislative session to protect and secure public education, healthcare and public transit. Lawmakers must reject the failed policies of austerity and they must tax the rich. While people lose healthcare and food assistance, billionaires like Ken Griffin are out here buying historic liberation documents like the Emancipation Proclamation for millions of dollars—and getting a tax break for it.
With so much at stake for our schools and communities, you’d think state lawmakers would be in Springfield right now, working on a Trump Rainy Day Fund. But instead, they’ve been adjourned for more than a month.
With the consequences this bill will bring the moment Trump signs it, we’re calling on Governor Pritzker and Illinois lawmakers to act immediately. Our public schools, public health systems, and community services need real safeguards from the federal storm that’s coming—and they need them now.”
Statement from Channyn Lynn Parker, Interim CEO of Equality Illinois:
“This afternoon, Congress chose tax breaks for billionaires and performative politics over people, prioritizing cruel spending cuts and a hollow Independence Day deadline over life-saving access to Medicaid and nutrition programs.
We know the devastating impact this will have on historically marginalized people across Illinois, especially on low-income LGBTQ+, Black, Brown, disabled, and immigrant communities. Many in our community rely on programs like Medicaid and SNAP not out of weakness, but because our systems have consistently failed to provide equitable opportunity and care. Stripping these supports away doesn’t just harm individuals, it undermines the shared foundation of dignity, health and safety we all deserve.
Let’s be clear: while lawmakers removed language banning gender-affirming care from Medicaid and CHIP, that change does not make this bill a win. It does not undo the harm of legislation that could result in 11.8 million people losing health coverage and 3 million people being cut off from food assistance in the next decade. That includes LGBTQ+ people who rely on these resources to access affirming care, feed their families, and simply survive.
This bill may no longer explicitly target transgender people but it still threatens our community. When families can’t put food on the table, when low-income people can’t afford to see a doctor, when trans and queer people can’t access the care that affirms their humanity, we are all less free.
Equality Illinois believes in a future where every Illinoisan, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, race, income, or zip code, has the support they need to thrive. We reject the false choice between fiscal policy and human dignity. This legislation betrays our shared values.
As always, we will continue to fight for a state and country that invests in care, not cruelty. And we remain committed to working alongside community partners, statewide elected leaders, and state legislators across Illinois to ensure that no one is left behind. Because our liberation is linked and our power is collective.”
Statement from the Citizens Utility Board (CUB):
“The budget reconciliation bill that passed today represents higher power bills for consumers in Illinois and across the country. Tax credits that help everyday people use solar power or energy efficiency to cut costs at home are wildly popular and highly successful. These incentives are cost-effective ways to cut utility bills, reduce energy prices for everyone, make the grid more reliable, create jobs and spark the economy.
This federal legislation ramps up the importance of Illinois continuing to pass strong, pro-consumer energy legislation, such as the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act, to build off what we have achieved and better protect consumers from high utility bills.
These times call for strong consumer advocacy, and CUB is dedicated to working for consumer interests at the local, state, regional and federal levels as we fight for lower utility bills across Illinois.”
Statement from A.J. Wilhelmi, President and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA) on behalf of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA):
“The severe Medicaid cuts contained in this legislation will force hospitals to make painful decisions—including eliminating services and jobs in their communities. And make no mistake, some hospitals will be forced to close their doors.
“Communities that already face barriers to care will be hit the hardest. This legislation doesn’t just threaten hospitals—it threatens the health, stability, and future of the communities they serve. The most regrettable outcome of this legislation is the loss of healthcare for hundreds of thousands of our state’s residents. While the vast majority of the proposed Medicaid cuts will fall on hospitals, they will continue to provide care for the uninsured, consistent with their moral and legal obligations. But this will come at the cost of service and staff reductions, and higher healthcare costs for all.
“Important work lays ahead for our state and its employers to ensure working people can keep their healthcare. And while most assume that hospitals will always be there to care for their communities, the financial challenges that will unfold as this plan moves forward will require important conversations between hospital leaders and policymakers.”
About Post Author
