Hours after the U.S. House approved a Republican-sponsored tax and spending plan on Thursday that would cut funding for programs like Medicaid and food assistance, Michigan organizers hit the streets in several cities.
The plan would extend and expand tax cuts that took effect in the first Trump administration, which primarily benefit corporations and high-income earners.
To make up for the lost revenue, and to meet President Donald Trump's goal of cutting more than $1 trillion in spending from the federal budget, the proposal would slash funding for programs like Medicaid and SNAP, also known as food stamps.
Those programs are meant to support people with low incomes and few resources. Protesters shared personal stories about how the programs have supported them.
One of the speakers at a rally in Detroit, Antoinette James, said Medicaid made it possible for her daughter to receive critical care.
“She had a life-saving surgery. And I thank God that she had Medicaid because without that, her medical bill would total up to over a million dollars,” she said. “If we did not have that assistance and support from that insurance, we would have been in bankruptcy, foreclosure, and she couldn't get the treatment she needs today.”
She added that she hopes lawmakers are paying attention.
“I'm hoping we get the attention of those in position and power to see that what they're doing is inhumane.”
In Grand Rapids, Megan Erskine, who heads a nonprofit health center in west Michigan, said she’s worried the bill could make it harder for people to get the health care they need.
"When people fall off of Medicaid due to administrative burden and paperwork, they're going to be impacted because they're going to lose their health insurance, but healthcare providers are going to be impacted because we're going to have a higher uninsured population," Erskine said.
The Detroit group also unfurled banners from a pedestrian bridge over I-96 during during rush hour, hoping to catch the attention of both commuters and lawmakers.
