Congressman Fields Expresses his Deep Opposition on the Passage of President Trump’s Budget Bill

Late last night, House Republicans were able to advance President Trump’s so called “big beautiful budget bill” by a one vote margin after close to 22 hours of continuous testifying by Democrats against the bill.

There is nothing beautiful about a bill that could strip vital healthcare and food assistance from millions of Americans, in addition to taking away critical federal funding from states like Louisiana.

If this budget gets passed into law as it is currently written, Louisiana stands to lose more healthcare funding than any other state. Medicaid brings nearly $15 billion in federal funding to Louisiana which is over 35% of the entire state budget.

People who lose coverage through Medicaid will not suddenly be able to afford private insurance. They will become uninsured. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that this legislation would leave approximately 8.6 million more people uninsured over next decade. 

In an underhanded attempt by Republicans to limit public transparency and participation, the House Rules Committee began a hearing under cover of darkness at 1’o clock in the morning to try and pass the rules for this budget. Congressman Fields and several of his Democratic Colleagues were at the Capitol all night and throughout the day advocating for his constituents in front of the committee.  

Congressman Fields testified before the House Rules Committee to propose an amendment that would create a commonsense exemption from Medicaid work reporting requirements for those who have experienced involuntary job loss or reduction in work hours that are outside of their control. The amendment failed to pass along a party-line vote.

“This week, my fellow House Democrats and I stayed up all hours of the day and night, trying to convince our Republican colleagues that the President’s budget will hurt the American people”, said Rep. Fields. “Early this morning, my colleagues in the majority voted to advance a budget that will have drastic impacts on Medicaid, food assistance, and education spending. I am now urging my Senate colleagues to stand up for the American people by amending this bill. The fight is not over.”

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