My Family Just Got Back on Our Feet. Trump’s Bill Could Knock Us Over Again.

By Alexis Cortes

My family and I finally secured stable housing again, years after being priced out of a duplex we’d been renting. I’m both relieved and worried.

Now the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” threatens health care and food for my four kids — just to pay for massive tax breaks for the very wealthy. This bill cuts $1 trillion from health care over the next decade. It’s the largest cut to federal support for health care for families in history.

I grew up well-cared for. My mom was a nurse who held down our finances while my stepdad attended school. Medicaid and food stamps helped fill in the gaps for us kids. Our grandparents worked for the federal government and were there for us, too.

With the familial and safety net support I had, I was able to graduate high school with an Associate’s Degree. I started a family soon after.

Then one of my children was diagnosed with autism, COVID happened, and my husband lost his job. And a few days before Christmas one year, our landlord told us: “I want to raise the rent to higher than you can pay, so you need to get out.” And just like that, we were evicted. We’d never been even a day late with our rent.

Life happens — to all of us. We can follow the rules and do the right thing, but structural barriers like these can put economic thriving out of reach for so many of us. My kids and I spent a few years doubling up with my grandparents — and only just recently got into a rent-reduced apartment.

So now, at nearly 30, I’m starting over. I’m in college working toward my Bachelor’s Degree in social work. My kids have health care through Medicaid — which is especially important for my daughter with autism — and we qualify for food assistance through SNAP. My youngest children are getting a good start in life through the HeadStart program.

Once again, I’m following the rules and keeping my family afloat. But then this bill is passed, which will greatly increase the already confusing and burdensome red tape to keep proving that we qualify for assistance. Studies show that millions who qualify for both Medicaid and SNAP will lose access simply due to paperwork errors.

The “Big Beautiful Bill” also calls for cuts to early childhood education programs and threatens the Head Start program and the Department of Education, which helps students with disabilities get an education equal to other students and ensures all kids have a hot meal every day. Without Head Start, many parents won’t be able to work, as the cost of childcare is out of reach for most of us.

Instead of making it harder for families to get by and thrive, Congress should focus on ensuring that the fundamental human rights of housing, health care, food, and public education are more readily available, not less.

I’ve never been one to sit around and let adversity beat me down. We’re accessing the programs our tax dollars pay for so my kids can have a better life. That’s what community, society, and government are for.

But this bill betrays families so billionaires can have more wealth and live in even greater luxury. This is not what Americans want. Polls show how wildly unpopular this bill is, with nearly two-thirds of Americans opposed.

The lawmakers passing these bad bills aren’t listening to most Americans. But I see what’s starting to happen: People like me are realizing we have a powerful voice — and more and more of us are using it. When we raise our voices together, the lawmakers who are trying so desperately to ignore us will no longer be able to.

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Previously Published on otherwords.org with Creative Commons License

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