President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will create staggering losses for America’s most vulnerable families, advocates say.
About two dozen protesters from the Solidarity and Unity Network (SUN) rallied in front of Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in San Jose on Thursday to speak out against the bill, which has passed the House and is being debated in the Senate. Baked into the bill are deep cuts to programs the poorest people rely on, including Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California, food stamps, housing vouchers and more. Protesters waved signs that said “ICE out of San Jose,” “Stop War,” and “No Big Ugly Bill” as they chanted “Stand up, fight back.”
SUN is made of two dozen groups representing a myriad of issues including Amigos de Guadalupe, Asian Law Alliance, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Jewish Voice for Peace South Bay, Laborers Local 270, Latinas Contra Cancer, Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network and more.
“If you take each one of our values, we can honestly say that Trump is working against all of those values,” Richard Hobbs, a lead organizer with SUN, told San José Spotlight. “It’s not about democracy for him, or equity or cooperation or kindness or sustainability. This bill incorporates a lot of the backsliding in our nation that we can’t afford.”
The budget proposals advancing through Congress could cost Santa Clara County up to $70 million. Trump wants Congress to work out the details of the bill to get it on his desk to sign by July 4.
The House version of the bill would slash health care programs by about $1 trillion over the next decade and require certain adults on Medi-Cal to work 80 hours a month to maintain health insurance. Due to the changes proposed to the Affordable Care Act marketplace and Medi-Cal, nearly 11 million people could lose health insurance, estimates the Congressional Budget Office. In California, about 1.7 million more people could be uninsured.
Medi-Cal represents roughly $1.9 billion in funding received by Santa Clara County this year. The county receives that money through reimbursements for patient care at county hospitals. It costs the county $4 billion, or $33%, from its $12 billion budget to run the hospitals. Half of the county hospital system’s patients pay through Medi-Cal.
“In Santa Clara County, one-third of our budget comes from the federal government,” San Jose State University professor emeritus Scott Myers-Lipton said at the rally. “The Trump cut in Medicaid will lead to even longer wait times here in Silicon Valley and an increase in infant mortality.”
Food insecurity would also rise under the bill, which would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by nearly $300 billion over the next nine years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s expected to lead to more than 7 million people losing or significantly reducing their food stamp benefits. Some parents would be required to work 80 hours a month to qualify, and it would require states to shoulder between 5% and 25% of the costs.
In Santa Clara County, participation in CalFresh is already at its highest level in a decade. As of last July, the federally funded food assistance program has more than 130,000 individuals receiving food stamps in the county, according to CalFresh data.
“We know when our children are hungry, they cannot learn,” Misrayn Mendoza with Amigos de Guadalupe said. “This is a health issue too, since food insecurity is linked to increased risk of diet related disease. SNAP helps low income households afford healthier diets.”
The bill would also shift more wealth to the highest income earners, while those at the bottom will experience the greatest loss. People at the top 10% would see their incomes increase by an additional $12,000, while the lowest 10% would see their resources decrease by about $1,600 annually due to cuts in Medi-Cal and SNAP, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. Those in the middle income bracket will experience a slight bump in income by $500 to $1,000.
“Let’s be clear, this money is not just disappearing. It’s being stolen,” Darcie Green, executive director of Latinas Contra Cancer, said. “Stolen by corrupt politicians to line the pockets of their billionaire friends.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
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