WASHINGTON — After an all-night session Wednesday night into Thursday morning, House Republicans passed their multi-trillion dollar tax breaks package on a 215-214 vote. All four Republicans representing Iowa in the US House voted for the bill.
North-central Iowa congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she was proud to vote for the bill. “Simply put, the bill is promises made and promises kept in action. Iowans overwhelmingly voted for President Trump’s America First agenda, ending illegal immigration and preventing dangerous criminals and drugs from entering our communities, cutting wasteful spending, and unleashing American energy.”
Hinson says the bill also solidifies Trump’s border security agenda. “This will help to secure our border permanently by funding the largest deportation effort in history and disincentivizing illegal immigration, providing funding for at least one million annual removals. By giving our border patrol agents the strategic advantage they need, this sends a very clear message to the cartels, the traffickers and the murderers, and any other illegal alien criminals that they have no place in the United States.”
Democrats say the bill makes hundreds of billions of dollars worth of cuts to Medicaid that will endanger rural hospitals and nursing homes. 20% of Iowans are currently enrolled in Medicaid and about 86,000 Iowans will no longer qualify for Medicaid coverage if the bill becomes law.
The bill also requires the State of Iowa to pay at least $26 million to cover SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, that have been fully financed in the past by the federal government.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where some Republicans have said the bill does not do enough to cut federal spending.
