In July 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—quickly dubbed the "Big Beautiful Bill"—sending shockwaves through states from Oregon to Nebraska and sparking fierce debate in Washington and beyond. While supporters celebrated what they called a decisive step toward economic strength and energy independence, critics warned of deep cuts to vital programs and a tilt toward fossil fuel interests at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable.
For Oregon, the repercussions arrived swiftly. According to an editorial in The Bulletin published on August 15, the bill delivers a blow to the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), halting benefit increases that would normally keep pace with inflation. As grocery prices rise, thousands of families may find their food budgets stretched thinner than ever. The editorial noted, “Food prices go up and people won’t necessarily have access to as much food.”
But food assistance isn’t the only area feeling the squeeze. Approximately 17,000 Oregon households—those without a member over 60 or with a disability—will see a reduction in energy assistance, losing about $58 per month. That’s not a small sum for families already struggling to cover utility bills. And the pain doesn’t stop there: the bill pulls $412 million from the Rose Quarter Improvement project in Portland, a 1.8-mile stretch notorious for having the state’s highest crash rate on any urban interstate. Delays in construction now seem inevitable, and as the Oregon Department of Transportation warns, “delays in construction mean increased costs.”
Medicaid coverage is also undergoing significant changes. Refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, and other lawfully residing non-citizens will no longer be eligible for federally funded Medicaid benefits. The state government cautioned, “This will result in disruption of care and potential coverage loss while increasing state costs to provide similar coverage to this vulnerable population.”
Nebraska finds itself in even deeper waters. Dr. Nikki Romanik, a distinguished senior fellow at Brown University’s School of Public Health, recounted in a Nebraska Examiner commentary how the cheerful name of the bill belies its harsh effects. Over the next decade, Nebraska stands to lose $6.5 billion in federal Medicaid funding. The fallout? More than 78,000 Nebraskans—including children—will lose health coverage. Romanik wrote, “This isn’t about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about families who will no longer be able to take their child to the doctor when they’re sick, seniors struggling to afford their nursing home, new moms being left without nearby maternity care, and about communities that will be left without any care at all.”
The ripple effects extend far beyond hospital walls. The bill is expected to cost Nebraska about 5,000 jobs and slash $28 million annually in state tax revenue, shrinking the state’s economy. The cuts to food assistance are just as stark: $322 million less for SNAP, affecting 155,000 Nebraskans—including 64,000 children. With over 70% of Nebraska’s counties already struggling with food access, the hardest-hit will be rural communities. “Curtis Medical Center announced closure hours after the bill’s passage; two more hospitals are at high risk of closing,” Romanik noted, adding that one in five Nebraska hospitals had already eliminated key services in the previous two years.
For many Nebraskans, these changes hit close to home. Nearly 70% of the state’s hospitals are rural, and 14 counties lack even a single primary care doctor. Nearly one in six mothers must drive at least half an hour for maternity care—twice the national average. As Romanik put it, “Imagine calling 911 because you’re having a stroke and being told the nearest ambulance is 45 minutes away.”
Immigrant communities across the nation are also feeling the sting. According to USAFacts and Newsweek, the bill recategorizes eligibility for federal benefits, including Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, and marketplace subsidies, based on immigration status. DACA recipients, who briefly gained access to some Medicare programs, saw that benefit reversed. Refugees and asylees are also facing new restrictions. Head Start eligibility is now limited to naturalized citizens, green card holders, refugees, and asylees—leaving applicants with pending asylum, DACA status, or non-tourist visas out in the cold.
Some of these changes will phase in over time, with health access restrictions set to take effect in October 2026 and January 2027. SNAP benefit changes for immigrants will likely be felt the next time recipients attempt to verify their status. The shifting landscape has prompted concern among advocates. Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer with the ACLU, stated in June, “We shouldn’t be kicking millions of people off Medicaid and denying lifesaving care to fund the Trump administration’s extreme deportation machine. The American people did not vote for this. We will make sure that constituents remember the catastrophic harm this bill does and hold lawmakers accountable.”
Republican lawmakers, for their part, argue that these changes are necessary to prevent fraud and protect taxpayer dollars. In a joint statement on July 3, House Republicans declared, “Republicans in Congress have succeeded in our mission to enact President Trump’s America First agenda. And importantly, we did it in record time, so that the effects of this nation-shaping legislation can be felt by the American people as soon as possible.”
Yet, the bill’s energy provisions have drawn sharp criticism from environmental advocates and clean energy supporters. As reported by The Guardian, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes billions of dollars in giveaways to oil and gas companies and executives, while rolling back credits for clean vehicles, wind, and solar energy established by the Inflation Reduction Act. The new law’s backers—almost all Republican lawmakers—have collectively accepted over $105 million in political donations from the fossil fuel industry over their careers. The fifteen most vulnerable Republican House members up for re-election next year, all of whom supported the bill, have collectively accepted more than $3 million from fossil fuel interests.
Pete Jones, a director at the advocacy group Climate Power, emphasized the stakes: “These Republican members of Congress all represent moderate swing districts with close elections, where voters of both parties expect their representatives to look out for them, not to kill their jobs and raise their utility bills for the sake of out-of-state special interests. These members chose who to stand up for, and they picked their billionaire donors.”
Analysts warn that the bill could put more than 110,000 clean energy jobs at risk in these districts and raise consumers’ energy bills by up to $200 annually by 2030, according to the think tank Energy Innovation. Despite some lawmakers’ previous pledges to defend renewable energy tax credits or oppose Medicaid cuts, all ultimately voted for the legislation.
President Trump, meanwhile, has made no secret of his intentions. In his inaugural address, he declared, “We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.” Since returning to the White House, Trump has signed executive orders aimed at cracking down on clean energy and boosting oil and gas production, doubling down on the priorities reflected in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
As the dust settles, communities in Oregon, Nebraska, and beyond are left grappling with the real-world consequences of a sweeping law that has reshaped the nation’s social safety net, health care system, and energy future. The coming months and years will reveal whether the promises of economic growth and national strength outweigh the costs borne by families, hospitals, and local economies across America.
