State health leaders, food bank weigh in on spending bill's potential impact in NC: 'It's ugly'
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Early Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Senate narrowly avoided a crushing defeat to President Donald Trump's so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. The bill cleared a major passage in the Senate by a 51-50 vote with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
"The Senate being evenly divided, the Vice President votes in the affirmative. The bill as amended is passed," said Vance from the Senate floor.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis joined his colleagues Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in voting "no" on the measure that is said to deliver a sweeping blow to North Carolinians who rely on SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps.
"This bill is anything but beautiful. It's ugly. It's bad. It's going to have devastating consequences to this state," said North Carolina governor Josh Stein as the bill was being debated on the House floor. "Depending on how they structure this bill, we might lose all SNAP benefits in the state. Which not only hurts kids, it hurts the farmers. It hurts grocery stores."
There are roughly 1.9 million people in North Carolina who rely on SNAP benefits, many of whom are children, according to state data.
Ahead of the decisive vote, state officials with the Department of Health & Human Services said should the bill pass both chambers of Congress, the agency is left with three options in moving forward with handling the SNAP program.
Those options include state lawmakers finding money in the state budget to make up the cost to run the program if federal funds aren't received, which could amount to a figure between $420-700 million annually, reduce the SNAP enrollment figures, or to withdraw from the SNAP program completely.
"And you're asking, why are they doing these damaging things. It's to give tax breaks to the wealthiest among us and corporations. It's a disgrace," said Stein.
Supporters of Trump's bill said its passage will make way for $4 trillion in tax cuts, secure funding for immigration enforcement, and make good on a campaign promise to eliminate no taxes on tips and overtime.
Meanwhile, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, is worried that if the SNAP program is significantly impacted, or eliminated, the burden will fall on the non-profit to provide food to those in need. An executive with the Food Bank said for every meal it provides to someone in need, the SNAP program provides nine.
President and CEO Amy Beros said there's "no way" the agency can meet the need, "because (the cuts) are so huge and they're so immediate. And the impacts are going to be systemic in our communities."
The President's bill now heads to the House where lawmakers are said to have an uphill battle in getting the bill passed. Several congressional Republicans have already red lined sticking points in the Senate's version of the bill.
In a plea to lawmakers to vote otherwise, Beros said, "Take a moment and step outside the numbers. Because behind those numbers on spreadsheets, which just look like really large dollar amounts, it's humans."
Speaker Mike Johnson said he can afford to lose three votes for the bill to not be in jeopardy of passing and has plans for it to be debated as early as Wednesday morning.
"I think it's going to do very well in the House," said President Trump aboard Air Force One. "We'll see how that works out. But, looks like it's ahead of schedule. We'll see what happens. I'm happy about it."
