Our State Cannot Survive This Bill
Across the country, state lawmakers like us are bracing as the federal government considers a bill that will throw state budgets into chaos and add red tape that our social service agencies do not have the capacity to administer. If the budget reconciliation bill that passes Congress in anything like its current form, we will be left to deal with the fallout.
The likely impacts from the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' are particularly ugly for our home state, Alaska: Nearly 40,000 Alaskans could lose health care coverage, thousands of families will go hungry through loss of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and the shift in costs from the federal government to the state will plunge our budget into a severe deficit, cripple our state economy and make it harder to provide basic services.
This is not about partisanship. One of us is a Republican and the other is an Independent. In the Alaska Legislature, our State Senate and House are led by a bipartisan governing coalition. Our focus is squarely on the survival of the people we represent.
The benefits of Medicaid and the SNAP program permeate the entire fabric of the Alaska economy, with one in three Alaskans receiving Medicaid, including more than half of the children. In remote Arctic communities, Medicaid dollars make medical travel possible for residents from the hundreds of roadless villages to the communities where they are able to receive proper medical treatments.
SNAP, which supports 70,000 residents, puts food on the table and is also used to help purchase subsistence gear for essential hunting and fishing. And at a time when many fish runs are collapsing because of climate change and our overburdened agencies are already struggling to get residents their SNAP benefits on time, cutting federal funding for SNAP will have a profound impact here.
The bill being rushed through Congress is based on a one-size-fits-all approach that does not reflect these realities on the ground. Unlike the federal government, most states cannot run a deficit and must balance their budget. If the federal government shifts costs to the states, it generally means we need to cut something else. And while the impacts are particularly difficult for Alaska, our state is not alone. Last year, inflation-adjusted tax revenue fell in 40 states. States with large rural populations are likely to be hit particularly hard.
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Forbes
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- Forbes
Birthright Citizenship: Supreme Court To Decide Trump Executive Order Today—What To Know
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an hour ago
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"We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind," he said. The other shoe has dropped: Beijing has backed up the plans for trade easing laid out by the US, signaling warmer relations between the recently feuding sides. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Nike (NKE) slipped this one into its earnings call last night: It could see a $1 billion tariff hit to profits this year! How does it plan to overcome that, you ask? By jacking up prices even more soon. How the consumer responds to the higher prices will determine if the tariff hit is a greater-than-expected weight on the business. Keep that risk in mind as the big premarket move excites you. We'll dive more into Nike's quarter on Opening Bid live at 9:30 a.m ET. President Trump has said the US could sign a 'very big' trade deal soon that would open up the Indian market to American businesses, even as both sides meet in D.C. to break a recent deadlock over key issues. 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That's left an interim trade deal in jeopardy ahead of President Trump's July 9 deadline. Here are some key issues at stake, according to a Reuters analysis: Read more here. Toy prices are going up faster than ever, mainly because of new tariffs in an industry where most toys, about 75%, are made in China. It's one of the first signs of how new trade rules are quickly making things more expensive for Americans. The Washington Post reports: Read more here. The European Union leaders are expected to inform the European Commission on Thursday whether they would rather strike a quick trade deal with the US, even if that means accepting less favorable terms, or risk prolonging the standoff in pursuit of a better outcome. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The European Union competition chief, Teresa Ribera, told Bloomberg News on Thursday that the EU's crackdown on Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is not a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with President Trump. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. One Chinese toymaker has taken drastic action to try and avoid President Trump's tariff blitz. When Trump hiked tariffs on China from 54% to 145% in early April, Ah Biao a toy factory in southern China that makes magnetic puzz and sensory toys for American children, rented a factory in Vietnam. They packed 90 sets of iron and steel molds into 60 boxes, which was then shipped to the Southeast Asian country to avoid high levies. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa has reinforced the message that it cannot accept US tariffs of 25% on cars, adding that the country's automakers produce far more cars in the US than they export to America. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. President Donald Trump is publicly criticizing Spain after the country refused to accept new NATO spending targets and has threatened to double Spanish tariffs as a result. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. The Trump administration is arguing that the president should have the power to impose sweeping global tariffs. His attempts to do so thus far were found unconstitutional in lower courts, but that decision is now being appealed. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. JP Morgan (JPM) analysts have warned that US trade policies will likely cause a slow down in global economic growth and restart inflation in the United States, where there is a 40% chance of a recession in the second half of 2025. Reuters reports: Read more here. General Mills (GIS) projected lower annual profits on Wednesday, causing the stock to fall over 1% before the bell. The consumer group was hurt by weak demand for its refrigerated baked goods and snacks in the US, amid a tough economic environment affected by tariffs and uncertainty. Reuters reports: Read more here.
