Some of New Mexico’s top lawmakers and leaders gathered Thursday to discuss the potential impact of the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on the state’s most vulnerable populations.
U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury, and State Speaker of the House Javier Martinez, both Democrats, spoke against the bill at the CommonSpirit St.Joseph’s Children center along with President of the center, Allen Sanchez.
The “Big Beautiful Bill” passed the house by a narrow vote of 215-214, and could undergo significant changes in the Senate. The bill in its current form would, among other things, make permanent the 2017 tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest earners, a move that would be paid for by reducing federal spending.
Sanchez said it’s like the tale of Robin Hood flipped on its head.
“Here they're taking services from the vulnerable to give tax breaks to the richest people on the planet,”he said. “And that's not that's not ethical, that's not moral and we need to call people to compassion.”
Sanchez said cuts to social services put Medicaid coverage at risk for 180 thousand new Mexicans, and SNAP benefits, commonly referred to as food stamps, at risk for 90 thousand. Some estimates state even higher numbers of potentially affected New Mexicans.
“If there's less resources, particularly food, I can't see the food banks feeling that gap. We're going to see hungrier people,” he said. “Also, when we’re referring to Medicaid, if that’s not there, we're going to see families suffering health issues and maybe even death. 81% of the children in New Mexico last year were born on Medicaid. We cannot see a cut to Medicaid.”
Sanchez said he hopes the 73% of voters in 2022 who approved the Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing a right to early childhood education will still support New Mexican children by calling their congresspeople and senators.
“We don't need to just be sitting around crying or grieving or feeling defeated,” he said. “We have a voice, and the call to action is your voice has to be made heard to the President, the Vice President and the Senate leadership”
CommonSpirit Health is a catholic nonprofit, and one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health systems. Sanchez said St.Jospeh’s Children is dedicated to helping parents raise happy healthy children, by going into the home and connecting clients to services that provide health care, school readiness and more.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
