‘A brazen attack on vital support systems:’ Passage of Trump megabill draws sharp rebuke

Ebony Hawkins joined with other workers from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to protest Republican Medicaid cuts near the U.S. Capitol building on June 23, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Nevada must now brace itself for the big and brutal impacts of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which he is expected to sign this holiday weekend.

The GOP-backed multitrillion-dollar domestic spending and tax cut package imposes steep cuts to Nevada’s biggest public safety nets, including Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Democratic leaders, nonpartisan organizations, and even the Republican governor have expressed concern about the state’s ability to absorb the cuts.

The U.S. Senate and House largely passed the megabill on party lines. Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen and Reps. Susie Lee, Steven Horsford, and Dina Titus all voted against the bill and have actively spoken out against it. The Nevada congressional delegation’s sole Republican, Rep. Mark Amodei voted to pass the measure.

The latest economic projections for Nevada showed a dreary outlook, and state lawmakers have acknowledged they may not have the funds to fill gaps created by federal funding cuts. Many believe a special session to make cuts will be necessary.

Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, in a statement Wednesday after the Senate narrowly passed the bill 51-50, called the bill a “brazen attack on the vital support systems our communities rely on.”

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, in a statement Thursday after the House passed the final version of the bill 218-214, said the GOP-backed megabill will devastate Nevada hospitals and “could cause lifesaving care to disappear across the state.”

“And at a time when Nevadans are still struggling with the basic cost of living, it will also increase the cost of energy by cutting investments in new energy infrastructure,” she said. “This bill is wrong, it will hurt Nevadans, and Republicans should be ashamed to have supported it.”

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in a statement posted on social media dismissed “beltway talking heads” bickering over the bill and celebrated one minor component of the bill, Trump’s “no tax on tips” and overtime promise, calling it “a huge win for hardworking Nevadans.”

He said his office “continues to assess” the bill but that “Nevadans should be excited about the potential impacts of tax cuts, investments in small businesses and American manufacturing, and efforts to help secure our border.”

Prior to a House vote in May on an earlier version of the bill, the Republican Governors Association announced 20 governors had signed onto a letter offering “strong support” for the bill. Lombardo was noticeably absent among the list of governors praising the bill in that letter.

Lombardo in February also expressed concern about Medicaid cuts, writing in a letter to congressional leaders that an “abrupt reduction in federal funding would not only disrupt care for those who rely on Medicaid, but would also destabilize public and private healthcare providers, leading to workforce reductions, service limitations, and financial strain on already overburdened health care facilities.”

Some of the provisions Lombardo warned about were implemented in the bill.

Medicaid

Under the bill, Nevada stands to lose about $590 million annually in federal Medicaid funding for the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Approximately 750,000 Nevadans, or about 20% of the total population, were covered by Medicaid in 2023. CBO estimates more than 114,500 Nevadans could lose coverage.

Medicaid expansion

The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in 2014 provided health coverage to thousands of Nevadans through additional federal funding, cutting the uninsured rate in half, from 22% in 2012 to 10% in 2024.

Under the bill, federal funding rates for these expansion enrollees will be cut from 90% to 60%, forcing Nevada to either come up with additional state funds or cut Medicaid in the state.

If Nevada maintains its current Medicaid expansion program despite cuts in federal funding, it will cost the state $2.92 billion over a seven-year period. If Nevada drops Medicaid expansion due to the added costs, an additional 132,000 Nevadans would lose health care coverage, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Medicaid already accounts for a significant portion of state spending. In 2023, Nevada spent $5.6 billion to fund state Medicaid expenditures, or approximately 30% of its entire budget.

Hospitals, health care providers warn Medicaid cuts will be felt by people not on Medicaid

Provider tax

The bill will reduce a tax private hospitals pay that is known as a “provider tax.” The tax helps fund Medicaid and allows the state to access additional federal matching dollars.

Under the bill, Nevada stands to lose around $212 million in provider tax funding annually, according to Nevada Hospital Association President Pat Kelly.

In response to concerns about the impact reductions in the provider tax rate would have on rural hospitals, the bill provides the Rural Hospital Stabilization Fund with $50 billion from 2028 through 2032 to help with a transition.

Two rural hospitals in Nevada are vulnerable to closure once that funding ends: Battle Mountain General Hospital in Lander County and Humboldt General Hospital in Humboldt County.

Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)

Nevada could be required to cover millions in costs currently footed by the federal government under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, better known as SNAP.

Until now, the federal government has paid for all benefits and half of the administrative costs for the nutrition program. Starting in 2028, states will be required to pay 75% of administrative costs, and potentially up to 15% of the program’s costs as a penalty for miscalculating payments.

Under those cuts, Nevada could lose between $70 million to $170 million in federal funding annually.

States with an error rate of less than 6% would not be penalized. Nevada’s error rate was 5.94% in fiscal year 2024, meaning if the state slips slightly, it could be on the hook for 15% of program costs.

Last week, the county’s 23 Democratic governors warned their states would not be able to fully fund SNAP if the federal government shifted costs to states.

Republican state leaders have largely been silent on the issue. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, recently vetoed a budget measure to fund the Summer EBT Program, which covers low-income children during summer break, citing the “significant uncertainty regarding federal matching rates for this and other similar programs.”

The GOP-backed megabill also raises the work requirement by ten years, to age 64, and ends the exemption for adults with dependent children. Under the bill, parents with children older than 14 are subject to the work requirement.

Some lawfully present immigrants, including asylees and refugees, will also be stripped from eligibility under the bill. 

All together, as many as 265,000 Nevadans are at risk of losing some or all of their SNAP benefits under the bill, according to D.C.-based think tank the Urban Institute.

No tax on tips

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ mostly benefits Nevada’s wealthiest

The bill also incorporates Trump’s “no tax on tips” promise, which he first made during a campaign rally in June 2024 in Las Vegas. The bill allows tipped workers, like bartenders, to deduct the amount of their tips from their taxable income, up to $25,000.

The provision expires after 2028.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle quickly got the populist idea of “no tax on tips.” That group included Sen. Jacky Rosen, who sponsored a standalone bill with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz to exempt tipped wages, and Rep. Steven Horsford, who proposed an amendment to make the “no tax on tips” deduction permanent rather.

The Tax Policy Center estimates that 60% of households with tipped workers – about 2% of all households nationwide – would benefit from the tax cut. They also estimate those benefits would be modest: about $1,800 a year, or $35 a week.

Gambling losses

In addition to broader objections to the bill, U.S. Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford both publicly criticized a minor provision in the bill that limits declarable losses for gamblers.

“Republicans quietly snuck a provision into their big ugly bill that hits Nevada’s gaming industry hard,” Horsford posted on social media. “Break even at the casino? You still owe the IRS. It is a direct hit to our economy and the workers who power it.”

Horsford on Thursday vowed to introduce legislation “to stop this before it hurts NV jobs.”

Environment

The bill eliminates the Residential Clean Energy Credit, which is currently set at 30% of the cost of a new rooftop solar system and installation. The credits were slated to fall to 26% in 2033. Instead, the credit will expire on Dec. 31, 2025.

Clean energy advocates fear the solar rooftop industry will suffer as a result. 

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Nevadans claimed more than $137 million in credits for investments in residential electricity generation on their 2024 tax returns.

Nevada will also see less revenue from oil and gas companies leasing and developing public lands in the state after the bill rolled back several reforms passed under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Half of all revenue from royalty rates goes to the state where federal land is being leased for oil and gas drilling, helping fund state programs. Under the bill, those rates were reduced from nearly 17% to about 13%, costing Nevada additional revenue that could be invested back into the state.

Nevada Wildlife Federation Executive Director Russell Kuhlman in a statement called the drafters of those provisions “tone deaf.”

“As Nevada’s habitat and wildlife continues to decline across our state, the current administration seems willing to bend over backwards to help industry profit from our public lands before they prioritize providing clean air, water and access for all public land users,” he added.

Immigration

How the megabill allows Trump to expand mass deportations, curb immigrant benefits

The bill allocates $175 billion to immigration enforcement over several years, in alignment with Trump’s campaign pledge to carry out mass deportations. For perspective, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 2024 budget was $9.6 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.

The increased funding includes $45 billion to construct detention centers, $59 billion to Customs and Border Protection, nearly $6.2 billion for border technology and surveillance, and $450 million to aid state and local cooperation with immigration enforcement.

The Nevada Immigrant Coalition in a statement prior to the final passage noted the bill makes “ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the history of the United States, even bigger than the FBI and with a larger budget for detention than the entire Federal Bureau of Prisons.”

Their statement continued, “Funding to feed hungry children and seniors is being cut, while increased for the separation of working families. This budget is not just numbers on a page, it’s a roadmap for cruelty.”