As President Donald Trump prepares to sign the sweeping federal budget bill into law on July 4, Connecticut leaders across government, healthcare, and education have issued nearly-unified condemnation of the measure — while state Republicans defend it as a long-overdue correction.
Dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by its sponsors — and the “Big Ugly Bill” by critics — the legislation makes permanent the 2017 tax cuts for corporations and high earners, repeals the IRS Direct File system, and implements historic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and federal education aid.
The bill cleared the US House on a narrow 218-214 vote, with nearly every Republican voting in favor except for Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, who broke ranks to oppose the measure. Both cited concerns about the bill’s long-term fiscal impact and deep cuts to federal entitlement programs
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont condemned the bill, calling it “a massive income transfer from the poorest and most vulnerable Americans to the wealthiest.”
“This bill is going to have devastating impacts on millions of Americans for years to come,” Lamont said in a statement. “Even the Republicans in Congress were reluctant to vote for it because they know the negative impact it will have on the public — especially the most vulnerable.”
Lamont warned that Connecticut, like other states, lacks the capacity to backfill the bill’s sweeping cuts.
“Kicking people off their health insurance, defunding hospitals and nursing homes, and eliminating food and nutrition assistance is going to have a ripple effect throughout the country,” he said.
One of the most far-reaching changes is the addition of work requirements to Medicaid. Beginning in 2026, adults aged 19 to 64 in the expansion population must complete 80 hours per month of employment or community engagement. States must also conduct redeterminations of eligibility every six months — doubling the administrative burden and increasing the risk of coverage loss, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation, called the legislation “a sad day” for the state.
“It will leave thousands of Connecticut residents uninsured,” she said. “It will lead more people to go longer without medical care, expose more residents to medical debt, harm the stability of our hospitals and health care providers, and cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The Connecticut Hospital Association warned that the cuts will strain the entire system.
“These costs will be borne not only by caregivers but also by employers, employees, the insured, and all Connecticut taxpayers,” the association said in a statement.
The bill also dramatically restructures SNAP. States will be required to cover 5% of administrative costs — ending nearly 50 years of full federal funding — and the federal match will drop from 50% to 25%. Connecticut’s error rate has ranged from 4.9% to 10.5%, making it vulnerable to penalties between $44 million and $222 million annually.
The bill reinstates benefit time limits for certain unemployed adults and restricts eligibility for immigrants and asylum seekers. It also freezes future benefit increases by capping the Thrifty Food Plan, cutting monthly benefits by $7 per person by 2027 and $15 by 2034.
Norma Martinez-HoSang, director of CT for All, said the bill will create a humanitarian crisis.
“Millions of Connecticut residents will feel the crushing weight of the consequences,” she said. “Lamont’s effective ‘thoughts and prayers’ response belittles the most important choice his administration has been faced with: let people go unfed, unhoused, and uninsured, or declare a state of emergency and enact progressive revenue solutions to save lives.”
Emily Byrne, executive director of Connecticut Voices for Children, said the bill will force families to make impossible choices between food, health care, and housing.
“The ultimate cost of these historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will be human lives — the unnecessary death of Connecticut residents — unless state lawmakers choose another direction,” Byrne said. “To be clear, it shouldn’t have to be on states to right the wrongs of the federal government, but the proverbial ball is in our court.”
Her organization is urging lawmakers to raise taxes on Connecticut’s wealthiest residents and redirect that revenue to protect basic services.
The bill also overhauls federal education funding. It eliminates Pell Grants for part-time students, ends subsidized student loans, and imposes new taxes on scholarships and fellowships. It introduces a $25-billion school voucher-style tax credit, redirecting public dollars to private and religious schools.
CEA President Kate Dias called the bill “an unconscionable stripping away of benefits from those who are most in need to provide tax cuts for wealthy corporations.”
“This bill makes it even more difficult for students to pursue their educational aspirations,” she said. “It adds to the challenges teachers already face and discourages young people from entering the profession.”
Dias thanked Connecticut’s congressional delegation for opposing the bill and pledged that educators will continue to “stand up for students and their families” at the ballot box and in policymaking spaces.
In a sharp rebuke of Democratic criticism, House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, released a statement Thursday calling the reaction “as predictable as it is ridiculous.”
“The sky-is-falling meltdown from Governor Lamont and Connecticut Democrats over an America First agenda is … panicking, because it exposes how badly their policies are failing working families,” he said.
Candelora dismissed the criticism as partisan theater, arguing that the bill reflects a necessary shift away from what he described as failed economic policies under Democratic leadership.
Despite being promoted as a deficit reduction measure, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will increase the federal deficit by $3.3 trillion over the next decade, primarily due to permanent tax cuts and the repeal of Direct File.
Lamont said his administration is reviewing the legislation’s impact on Connecticut’s services and budget and will meet with General Assembly leaders in the coming days.
“We will do everything we can to minimize harm, but no state can fully absorb cuts of this magnitude,” he said.