Rep. Omar kicks off monthly column

This past month has been about listening to our community and fighting for the issues that matter most – especially as Republicans have been pushing their “big, beautiful” budget bill that will do nothing but leave a big, ugly financial disaster for families in Minnesota and across our country. Minnesotans are facing real challenges like threats to Medicaid and SNAP and reckless policies that put lives at risk both here and abroad. In the past few weeks, I’ve been demanding answers at House Budget Committee Hearings and meeting with local leaders, healthcare providers, seniors and advocates to raise the alarm about the direct impacts of cutting our critical social programs.

Unfortunately, House Republicans have turned a blind eye to the facts of the matter, and are continuing to push this disaster budget resolution down the throats of the American people. Let’s be clear – this budget resolution is not about fiscal responsibility, it’s about enriching the ultra-wealthy while betraying working people by making $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and $230 billion in cuts to SNAP, the largest in American history.

In Minnesota’s Fifth District alone, at least 1 in 5 people rely on Medicaid to afford healthcare. That’s 164,149 Minnesotans who could lose their access to the life-saving medical care they need. In March, I joined Rep. Kelly Morrison at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis for a roundtable and press conference on the devastating impact of GOP-led efforts to gut Medicaid. We heard from Hennepin Healthcare leaders, providers, and advocates about the harm these cuts would inflict on patients, families, and communities. Some include longer wait times, staffing shortages, hospital closures and increased costs.

I’ve also heard directly from dozens of senior residents by bringing town hall-style discussions to them at senior living facilities across the Fifth District. Losing health care coverage is the top issue among our seniors. For many of them, folks who are already living on a limited, fixed income from Social Security, losing Medicaid would prove to be financially crushing.

The budget resolution also cuts billions from SNAP, a vital program that 90,000 Minnesotans in the Fifth District rely on to put food on the table. Nationwide, over 42 million Americans depend on SNAP to feed themselves; 40% of those participants are children, 20% are seniors over the age of 60, and 10% are folks with disabilities. I recently hosted a press conference with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Tina Smith, and SNAP recipients in the Fifth District on the importance of protecting federal funding for the program. Tamara, one SNAP recipient, shared that her family would be financially devastated by the proposed cuts to the program. Millions of families, like Tamara’s, depend on programs like SNAP to meet their basic needs when they’ve fallen on hard times. No one in our country should be worrying about choosing between their life-saving prescription medication, putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their heads.

Through these cuts to SNAP, Republicans will make it harder for kids to receive the nutrition they need and take away free school meals from over 18 million kids across our country. For many of these kids, the free lunch they get at school is the only nutritious meal they get that day. It’s a fact that children going hungry will devastate academic performance and school attendance – it’s a morally indefensible cut.

At a time when many families are already struggling with rising costs of living expenses, we should be doing everything in our power to support them through times of difficulty, not make life harder. Hungry children and families, seniors unable to afford the health care they need, and increased food and medical costs for everyone – that’s the reality Republicans are pushing for through their big, ugly budget bill.

Still, I remain committed to using my voice to stand up for what is right. I will not let Washington Republicans silently cut away the federal programs you rely on. I’m working to make sure every Minnesotan knows the exact impact Republicans' reckless and dangerous policy proposals will have on their everyday lives.

Until next month!