Expect Tougher Times for Black Americans after Passage of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”

By Cash Michaels –

Gov. Josh Stein warned that the bill would “… undo decades of bipartisan progress and harm the health, well-being, and economic security of people, families, and communities in our state.” 

Now that President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” has been passed by Congress and signed into law, political observers, even here in North Carolina, say those living on the margins, especially in the Black community, will suffer most, because the bill enacts the largest spending cuts ever, approximately $1 trillion, to the nation’s social safety net.

With the passing of this destructive and rotten bill, Trump and GOP lawmakers have launched a direct attack on Black communities and the basic rights we fight for every day,” Kristin Powell, executive director of Black to the Future Action Fund, told The Grio. “This is not just evil and corrupt policy: it’s a deliberate dismantling of progress. But we have a choice: we can grieve, or we can fight back.”

And because the federal government has now cut back on Medicaid (health insurance for the poor) and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), that will place a greater strain on North Carolina’s resources.

Just before the final US House vote, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein warned in a letter to North Carolina’s congressional delegation that the legislation was coming at a time when “… many North Carolinians … are worried about feeding their families, being able to continue seeing their doctor, or keeping their jobs.” Stein added that the law would “… undo decades of bipartisan progress and harm the health, well-being, and economic security of people, families, and communities in our state.”

The governor further warned that Medicaid health insurance coverage would now “be stripped” from many of those receiving it in North Carolina, including the 670,000 recipients included in the 2023 Medicaid expansion. Work requirements will become more stringent for those considered to be “able-bodied.”

“Medicaid now provides critical health insurance to more than one in four North Carolinians,” Gov. Stein added. “… with North Carolina set to lose $39.9 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade.”

The state would have to raise taxes to cover that loss or reduce services, Stein cautioned. He also warned that rural hospitals were now at risk of closing, something Republican Senator Thom Tillis echoed when he refused to vote for the bill last week after announcing he would not run for reelection.

As for SNAP, Stein noted that 1.4 million low-income North Carolinians, or 1 in 10, depend on food stamps from the federal food assistance program, and they are now at risk if the state has to assume primary responsibility for them. It also means rural and urban grocery stores will lose income, affecting jobs in those communities.

Finally, Gov. Stein predicted as many as 45,000 jobs were now threatened across the state, along with $67 billion worth of economic activity because of cuts to the green energy industry.

With the exception of Sen. Tillis, all Republican members of the North Carolina delegation voted to ratify Trump’s bill, despite the dire ramifications it would have on their poor constituents back home.

GOP spokespeople pointed to features in the legislation that they say would help struggling North Carolinians, like the “no tax on tips or overtime pay” provision. The problem with that, many political experts note, is that “no tax on tips or overtime” applies only to the first $25,000 an employee earns annually, and is only available until 2028. The bill’s tax cuts for billionaires and corporations, on the other hand, are permanent. Meanwhile, because of drastic cuts to health care and other federal assistance services, the actual overall cost of living for everyone will rise.

Still, North Carolina Republican congresspeople like Tim Moore, said they were “proud” to vote for “… the largest tax cut in history for working Americans, strengthening Medicaid, securing the border [and] … cutting waste and holding Washington accountable.”

North Carolina’s Democratic congresspeople, however, were all thumbs down on Trump’s legislation.

Congresswoman Alma Adams called it “one big ugly bill” that was “reckless” and “places tax breaks for billionaires over the basic needs of our families, gutting lifesaving programs like SNAP and Medicaid for millions of North Carolinians.”

Congressman Don Davis, who often votes with Republicans, opined that “… the average hardworking family in eastern North Carolina will bear the brunt of [the bill’s] out-of-touch spending, as the wealthiest individuals … stand to benefit the most.” Congresswoman Valerie Foushee called it an “… unconscionable and immoral bill that sacrifices health care, food security, and environmental protections for millions of Americans and abandons hardworking families to deliver tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.”

NC Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton further blasted Trump’s bill, stating, “As children go hungry, seniors are kicked out of their nursing homes, rural hospitals are closed, and taxes and energy costs skyrocket—we can’t forget that all of this cruelty was caused to cut for the richest of the rich and the largest corporations.”

President Trump signed the ratified bill into law on July fourth, saying that “America is winning, winning, winning like never before.”