Local doctors, leaders, and advocates shared personal stories of struggle because Washington gave billionaires a massive tax break and stuck everyday Americans with the bill
FLINT, Mich (July 7, 2026) – On July 7, Families Over Billionaires joined local partners to bring the Who Pays? National Bus Tour to the Flint Farmers Market. Residents and local leaders shared stories about the real-world consequences of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) one year after it became law.
The OBBBA cut Medicaid and SNAP to deliver $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to billionaires and corporations. Since then, nearly 121,000 Michiganders have lost SNAP benefits, including nearly 6,000 people in Genesee County. More than 78,000 Michiganders have lost Medicaid benefits, affecting over 4,500 people in Genesee County. In fact, Genesee County is among those with the highest risk of Medicaid loss in the state.
Flint was the seventh stop on the 17-stop nationwide tour, which started in Portland, ME on June 30. The tour will hit 13 states before ending on July 16th in Tucson, Arizona. At every stop, local voices and leaders tell the story behind the headlines. Learn more here.
EXCERPTS
Kristen Crowell, Executive Director of Families Over Billionaires:
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“One year after the OBBBA, everything costs more. We have to pay more to put gas in our car to afford to go to a job that doesn’t pay enough, because the federal government has not raised the minimum wage. Yet corporations are raking billions of profits on the back of our work. We pay more in utility costs. We pay more just to survive: childcare, rent, every single thing right now that families are doing to provide for one another costs more.”
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“We hear from farmers, we hear from patients, health care providers, community advocates of how this law is harming all of us. But I’m also seeing that we are doing something very different in this moment: we are coming together to take care of each other.
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“Every single one of the speakers here today reminds us that these cuts to Medicaid and SNAP were a choice. That in this country, there is enough money to afford a dignified life for every single family. There is enough money, but the Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump refuse to tax the richest among us at the same rates that the rest of us pay.
Eileen Hayes, Executive Director, Michigan Faith in Action:
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“We were promised that it would lower costs and make life more affordable for working families, but here in Flint, across Michigan, that has not been our reality at all.
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“No parent, no person should be trying to figure out whether or not they should be able to buy groceries or fill a prescription. No senior should have to figure out, do I skip this meal just to be able to afford my medication? No one should wonder, should I take half of this pill to be able to make it stretch? These are unconscionable choices that people should not be forced to make.
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“As people of faith, we believe budgets are moral documents. They reflect our priorities, and they reveal what we value. And when policies leave working families struggling to access health care or put food on the table, while those with the greatest wealth receive the greatest benefits, we have a moral obligation to speak out.”
Dr. A.J. Harris, a family doctor in Flint with the Committee to Protect Health Care:
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“I have the privilege of caring for patients through every stage of life. One thing connects them all: they need access to health care they can count on. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress and President Trump ripped their health care away.
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“One year ago, Trump and Congressional Republicans passed HR1 giving massive tax breaks to billionaires and wealthy corporations, while slashing Medicaid. Billionaires got a tax break, my patients got a bill.
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“As a family doctor, I know that healthcare works best when patients can see a doctor before a small problem becomes a major medical emergency…. When people lose coverage, they don’t stop getting sick; they simply wait longer to seek care. By the time they walk into my patient room or into the emergency department, their illness has often gotten worse or more serious, more difficult to treat, and more expensive for everyone.
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“These cuts didn’t happen by accident. They were the result of a deliberate choice. Republicans in Congress chose to take resources away from working families and from the health care systems our communities rely on in order to give more to those who already have the most. As physicians, we see the consequences of those choices every single day.”
Julie Cassidy, Senior Policy Analyst, Michigan League for Public Policy
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“Everyone deserves basic needs like food and health care, but the reality is that for too many people in our state, even full-time work does not pay enough to afford these things. With the enactment of the OBBBA, our federal elected officials chose to continue skewing the economy with yet another massive upward distribution of wealth.
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“Jobs are not any easier to come by, and that tells us that declines in Medicaid and SNAP enrollment are not happening because people are getting jobs or earning more money. It’s not because families are doing better. It’s because of the confusion, the fear, and the layers upon layers of red tape put in place under HR1.”
Alex Canepa, Policy Director, Fair Food Network
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“There’s a lot of really good work supported by a lot of evidence and a lot of science that points towards nutrition interventions that do work, that save taxpayer money, that help communities become more prosperous. But funding for those programs was not included in HR1.
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“The real harm from the cuts to SNAP is only beginning to come into focus. Unfortunately, next year is going to be when it gets even worse….We have to start bracing for and raising attention on the damage that the OBBBA is doing to state budgets, particularly the state’s ability to respond to economic emergencies in the next recession, particularly when it relates to nutrition assistance programs.”
Tyler Dinard, Organizer, Planned Parenthood Michigan:
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“People should be able to go to a doctor and have all of their needs met, whether that is just being treated and talked to with respect and dignity, or just making sure that your concerns, your pain level is going to be heard and acknowledged. And we know far too often that is not the case, especially for black women.
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“Our communities are losing the needed public health safety nets that they relied on, and we can’t afford to have that. We cannot afford to let anyone slip through the cracks. We can’t afford to let anyone go without the treatment that they need.
State partners on the ground contributed to making today’s bus tour stop a success, including: Committee to Protect Healthcare, Michigan Faith in Action, Michigan League of Public Policy, the Fair Food Network, Planned Parenthood, Fun Michigan’s Future, and the City of Flint.
Who Pays? bus tour national partners include: Gen Z For Change, Protect Our Care, National Women’s Law Center, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, DemCast USA, National Nurses United, Unrig Our Economy, Americans for Tax Fairness, and State Revenue Alliance.
Follow Families Over Billionaires at @FOB_Action or at https://www.
