In early July, a Republican-controlled national legislature passed a budget and spending proposal that came to be known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. What are the implications of this bill in Mississippi and what does it mean for our residents?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which came into effect on July 4 of 2025, has garnered levels of attention and criticism that no other federal spending plan ever has before. The bill introduces revisions and changes to a wide range of policies and programs that will certainly leave an impact on the United States as a whole—for better or for worse. A majority of Mississippi’s federal Representatives and both of its Senators voted in favor of the bill, but its hard to argue that this was necessarily in our favor.
The legislation in its entirety is open to public viewing on the official website of the United States Congress, yet I would assume most Americans are not aware of what the act actually entails and how it could have catastrophic consequences for many. The bill introduces sweeping reforms for healthcare, taxation, environmental policy, and education—reforms that will likely cause damage in the long-run. Hailed as a reversal of “Bidenomics”, Conservative leaders stress their support for the changes as beneficial for the families and working class of America. How do these claims hold up in a state like Mississippi?
A particularly controversial provision of the bill is its potential impact on healthcare. Millions are expected to lose healthcare coverage and Mississippi will likely be no different. According to the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, roughly one-fourth of Mississippi residents rely on programs provided through Medicaid, which the OBBBA intends to significantly reduce. The plan will alter the qualifications and requirements that are needed to be eligible for Medicaid, most of which were simplified under the Biden administration. The new legislation explicitly prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing the reforms provided by Biden, leaving it up to individual states to determine their own policy. The paperwork and qualifications required to even be eligible for Medicaid may be different from region to region and many may be unaware that any documentation is even missing from their profile. The OBBBA boasts cuts to federal Medicaid spending of up to almost one trillion dollars. Rural hospitals will risk closure, as the annual twenty-five billion dollar fund allocated towards rural healthcare does not account for the revenue lost after spending cuts, and nearly all rural clinics do not receive enough revenue to compensate for the loss in funding themselves. Trump ran on a platform of anti-elitism, but the poor will face the economic burden of healthcare cuts—the large corporations owning many of our hospitals and clinics will not suffer the consequences of cuts in funding and will have much of their competition eliminated by force.
The Trump Presidency has come under national scrutiny in recent months for his hostile approach to education, even intimidating top colleges and elite universities into implementing policies and procedures that will ultimately shape higher education in a Conservative image. The OBBBA is no different in its legislation on education. Mississippi is more dependent on federal aid to fund education than any other state, and yet, our legislators enthusiastically voted in favor of this bill that will slash the funding we receive. The OBBBA will introduce a tax credit to finance vouchers for private school tuition, a move supporters say will expand access to private education to low-income students. However, the complexities of the school-choice debate go deeper. The decision will be granting more power and influence to private institutions, most of which are free to implement curriculum and policies reflecting personal or organizational beliefs, ideologies, and attitudes. Funding towards the public education system will gradually decrease, despite a vast majority of students being enrolled in public schools over private schools. It’s also the case that the vouchers and scholarships will not actually be available solely to kids who actually need them, and research confidently shows that most students who received private school vouchers have always been from families that could already afford the fees in the first place.
Environmental concerns are a contentious topic—whether or not human activity plays a substantial role in how theories like climate change affect the planet remains a heated debate among scholars, experts and activists alike. However, the OBBBA will almost certainly lead to increased environmental hazards, especially in Mississippi. The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce lists agriculture as Mississippi’s number one industry, and our communities are heavily reliant on the positive health of our waterways and lands to sustain a livelihood and a stable economy. It’s fair to say that Mississippi will not be facing the blunt of the damages caused by increased fossil fuel production and manufacturing, but our rivers and gulf that keep our state running will most definitely feel the consequences.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act had the opportunity to be something that would truly make America great again, and it missed the ballpark by such large margins that it may even be intentional. Donald Trump ran on a platform of helping the working class and anti-elitism, and yet the OBBBA enacts some if the most pro-elite, anti-working class, anti-low income policies that the United States has ever seen. The union’s poorest state will not benefit from legislation specifically engineered to hurt the poor. What Mississippi needs is programs that will truly lift the poor up into positions of stability and security, including expanded healthcare and education, and a safe environment. Mississippians should not have to worry about how far the next hospital will be or if the water they’re drinking is actually safe—we should be concerned with giving Mississippi the chance to become a true pearl of the south.