Maryland Governor Wes Moore sounded off after the U.S. Senate voted to pass President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which Democrats and civil rights advocates say is far from beautiful.
“I cannot explain enough how completely heartless this bill is and how deeply devastating it will be to the people of the state of Maryland,” said America’s only Black governor in a video message after being briefed on the tax and budget legislation that now goes back to the U.S. House of Representatives for a final vote before Trump’s siganture.
Moore, who has made closing the racial wealth gap in his state a major priority, explained, “If you are a multi-millionaire, congratulations, because this bill is for you.”
The bill permanently extends Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to the tune of $3.8 trillion in federal tax cuts, which experts say will overwhelmingly benefit the nation’s wealthy and corporations and drive up the nation’s debt.
He lamented, “But if you are everyone else, if you’re all of our working families, one of our seniors, our public servants, you are getting hosed!”
If passed in its current form, the so-called Big Beautiful Bill will cut $930 billion in Medicaid–the largest cut to the social safety net program since its creation in 1965. Gov. Moore said as a result, “Close to 200,000 Marylanders could lose their health coverage overnight.”
He continued, “And rural hospitals in the state of Maryland, rural hospitals could lose a quarter of a billion dollars in funding in the stroke of a pen; to our working families who are just trying to take care of each other, to our seniors who deserve to age in dignity, to people with disabilities.”
The BBB also makes historic cuts to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, totaling $230 billion.
“They are trying to take your food assistance away that helps you to pay for your groceries and helps you to provide for your families,” Moore told his constituents.
Referencing Trump’s controversial decision to send the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to respond to mass protests of his immigration policies, Moore described a stark reality if the president’s agenda is passed into law.
“The Trump administration has already tried to sever the relationship between the federal government and our states, but this bill, it severs the relationship between the federal government and its people. You,” said Moore.
The governor added, “Here’s one thing that I know about this state, though, we are tough, we are resilient we stay together. And Marylanders. We leave no one behind.”
