Landsman calls for tax reform to offset healthcare and energy cuts

By Greg Landsman, Democrat, Ohio District 1

We flew back to DC to vote on one of the worst bills to ever come out of Congress. 

Their Terrible Bill Passed. This bill will be the largest transfer of wealth from low-income families to the wealthiest – ever.

It slashes billions in investments to healthcare, food assistance, energy projects all to pay for tax cuts for the super-wealthy and big corporate interests.

Healthcare

17 million Americans – including nearly 490,000 Ohioans, mainly children, veterans, and seniors – will lose their healthcare coverage.

When you cut nearly $1 trillion from the healthcare system:

1. Out-of-pocket costs go up.
2. Medical debt will skyrocket.
3. Over 300 rural hospitals – including 11 in Ohio – could close.

These cuts won’t just hurt those who lose coverage – but everyone who needs care in Southwest Ohio. Nearly half of all patients at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital rely on Medicaid. These cuts will take healthcare away from sick children so the wealthy can get a tax cut.

Food Assistance

Five million Americans – including nearly 35,000 in Southwest Ohio – who get food assistance are now at risk of losing their benefits. Children, seniors, and veterans in our community will go hungry without the SNAP benefits they rely on to put food on the table each week.

Energy

This bill guts billions in clean energy investments, slashing funds for projects. By cutting these programs, 2 million jobs will be eliminated.

Energy costs for the average family will go up by 30%. While the super-wealthy and big corporate investors get massive tax breaks, working families are going to be left with higher bills. 

Deficit

Every version of this bill has gotten worse. When it first came to the House, it added $2.4 trillion to the deficit. In its final version, it adds $3.3 trillion.

This could be avoided by fixing the tax code so the wealthiest pay their fair share. 

We couldn’t kill the bill, but we can fix it.

This budget bill was so deeply unpopular, that thousands of constituents called and emailed our office asking us to stop it. We spent 26 hours in committee fighting cuts to healthcare, filed dozens of amendments, and shared stories about how it would impact hardworking Southwest Ohio families.

The fight continues — and it matters now more than ever. Millions will lose healthcare. Millions will lose food assistance. We need a Congress that will restore these basic rights and bring back clean energy jobs.

We can do it by fixing the tax code so the wealthiest pay their fair share, then we deliver real relief to the people who need it most: working families, small businesses, and farmers.

That must be our focus. Until we fix this, we have to stay in this fight.