The Senate this week passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a collection of tax cut extensions, Medicaid and SNAP reforms, military funding, and other GOP priorities. House leadership is now working to approve the package prior to the party’s July 4 deadline.
Three Republican Senators (Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC; Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME; and Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY) joined 47 Democrats and Independents in voting against the bill, requiring Vice President J.D. Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote.
The House is now scrambling amid summer travel schedules to get all members back to vote on the package before July 4. Procedural votes are scheduled for today, but House leadership has not signaled when the final passage vote will occur.
NCC supported numerous provisions in the bill.
“Exports are an increasingly important component for America’s broiler producers, and we support increased funding for Market Access and Foreign Market Development programs that help us promote U.S. chicken products and expand our export markets,” said NCC spokesperson Tom Super. “Domestically, we also back the creation of a pilot program for contract poultry growers that would allow them access to an index-based insurance policy protecting against extreme weather-related risk resulting in increased utility costs. We urge for final passage of the bill. ”
What’s in the Senate-passed bill?
The tax portion of the package includes a permanent extension of most of the first Trump administration’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The tax portion of the bill also includes some campaign promises from President Trump, including tax deductions for tipped, overtime, and Social Security income through 2028, as well as an increase in the child tax credit. These provisions are the most expensive part of the legislation, as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) holds that government revenues not returning to the higher pre-2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act levels to constitute “new spending.”
The bill includes an increase to the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction from $10,000 to $40,000. After five years, it would return to $10,000. This was an enormously costly and contested part of the bill’s construction, particularly from blue-state Republicans in the House.
The agriculture portion of the bill would shift some of the costs of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to some states. The federal government would continue to fully fund the program for states with an error payment rate below six percent, but the bill would make states pay between five and 15 percent of the costs if error rates exceed six percent. Further SNAP savings would come from shifting age requirements for able-bodied adults to qualify for SNAP benefits. Currently, in order to qualify, able-bodied adults between 18 and 54 must meet work requirements, but the bill would update these to 18 and 64 with certain exceptions.
The bill includes $46.5 billion for border wall construction and related expenses, $45 billion for DHS to expand detention capacity, and roughly $30 billion to hire, train, and otherwise fund the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The bill also makes numerous changes to Medicaid, including the implementation of work requirements. The bill would lower federal Medicaid provider taxes, thus forcing states to pay more for the program. A rural hospital stabilization fund would be established and funded at $50 billion to offset some of the new costs states will face to fund Medicaid.
The bill would also raise the debt limit by $5 trillion. The Department of the Treasury has said it expects the X-date, or the date at which the Treasury is likely to run out of authorized funds to pay for basic functions, is somewhere in August.
