Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July everyone.

I assume you all have spent the day like me, dividing your time between watching 1776 and reading Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. I did not intend to spend the holiday reading this, but I have not been able to find a source I felt I could trust. Mostly what I have read is what the bill is going to do, but I just want to know what it says. I decided to just start reading. It is long. Longer than I think one bill should be, so I have only gotten to section 20013, but I thought I would share what I have found so far.

First of all, sections 10301 to 10601 are about agriculture. I am going to admit that most of this was over my head. This is what I get from all these sections. The Government is committed to helping farmers. They are actually increasing the budget in almost every way and expanding programs. While I completely support farmers and ranchers, my biggest take away is with increase to farmers how is it going to be funded. I can see why some in congress were concerned with the costs of this bill.

The next sections, 20001 to 20013 were all about the military. Nothing here was surprising. Biggest take away is that we spend a lot on the military, but I knew that. The one section that stood out was 20011. This section gave a billion dollars to the military to help on the border. The military will help with border security, fighting drug trafficking, building facilities, and temporarily holding migrants on military property, when needed.

What could be seen as the most controversial parts are the first sections, 10101 to 10108. These sections deal with SNAP. I will probably write more on this later, but a quick summary is if you are able in body and mind then you must work to receive SNAP benefits. There are exceptions such as if you are pregnant or have kids under the age of 14.

A big part of the law is encouraging states to make sure they are following the rules. When states are checked if they are found to have less than 6% of ineligible people then the Federal government will pay out 100% of benefits. Yet if states are found paying out more than 6% to ineligible people then the Federal government will pay less. The higher the percentage the less the Federal government pays.

It also changes how much money the federal government pays states to help run the SNAP program (not the benefits, just the cost of administering it). Starting in 2027 and beyond the federal government will only pay 25% of those costs, and the state must pay the other 75%.

Finally, it restricts who can earn SNAP benefits to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (a green card holder).
I have only read a drop a drop in the bucket, but I will keep going for the next few days and can hopefully come to my own conclusions.

Now go get a burger and enjoy some fireworks.